Breaking: Heartbeat Law Wins at Texas Supreme Court
Breaking: Heartbeat Law Wins at Texas Supreme Court
Austin, TX – Today, the Texas Supreme Court said “No” to the claim made by abortion providers that state officials have a role in enforcing the Texas Heartbeat Law – which is not how the law is designed. Justice Jeff Boyd wrote that giving enforcement authority to state officials goes against the plain language of the statute, which specifically requires the law to be enforced by private citizens and forbids government enforcement.
Jonathan Saenz, President and Attorney for Texas Values released the following statement:
“Once again, the Texas Heartbeat Law prevailed in court – not only at the U.S. Supreme Court, but now at the Texas Supreme Court. The high court rejected the abortion groups’ faulty interpretation of this pro-life law and as a result, this life-or-death case should be dismissed. Babies win again.”
In its opinion, the Court concluded:
[The Texas Heartbeat Law] provides that its requirements may be enforced by a private civil action, that no state official may bring or participate as a party in any such action, that such an action is the exclusive means to enforce the requirements, and that these restrictions apply notwithstanding any other law. Based on these provisions, we conclude that Texas law does not grant the state agency executives named as defendants in this case any authority to enforce the Act’s requirements, either directly or indirectly. We answer the Fifth Circuit’s certified question No.
For more information about the Texas Heartbeat Law, please visit www.texasheartbeatlaw.com