Name: Appeals court strikes down Texas abortion law from 2017
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Appeals court strikes down Texas abortion law from 2017

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&nbsp;A federal appeals court struck down a Texas abortion law that bans the most common type of second-trimester abortion unless doctors first employ an added procedure to ensure fetal demise.In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday evening, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 2017 law places an impermissible burden on women by forcing them to "endure a medically unnecessary and invasive additional procedure" against their doctors’ advice."The Act confers no medical benefit for women patients while forcing them to undergo unnecessary, painful, invasive, and even experimental procedures," said the opinion, written by Judge James Dennis and joined by Judge Carl Stewart, both nominated by President Bill Clinton."We are unaware of any other medical context that requires a doctor — in contravention of the doctor’s medical judgment and the best interests of the patient — to conduct a medical procedure that delivers no benefit to the patient," Dennis wrote.Judge Don Willett, nominated by President Donald Trump, disagreed and said his dissenting opinion will be "forthcoming."Senate Bill 8, passed largely along party lines in 2017, banned "dismemberment abortions" on a "living unborn child," using language that described dilation and evacuation abortions, a procedure described by abortion providers as the safest and most common method after the 15th week of pregnancy.About six months later, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Austin barred enforcement of SB 8 before it could take effect.Yeakel said the law improperly required doctors to use risky and unproven procedures to cause fetal demise, typically by injecting toxins into the fetus via a 4-inch needle inserted through the abdomen or vagina, increasing the risk of infection and other health complications.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a strong opponent of abortion, quickly appealed."No just society should tolerate the tearing of living human beings to pieces," Paxton said at the time, adding that the law "treats the unborn with dignity and respect and protects the integrity of the medical profession."Paxton is expected to ask the entire 5th Circuit Court to reconsider Tuesday’s ruling. Republican appointees outnumber Democrats 12-5 on the court, and several GOP judges have upheld every abortion regulation they have considered in recent years.Abortion advocates praised the ruling."Today’s decision puts a stop to Texas’ strategy to ban one abortion procedure after another until it is all but inaccessible," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. "Politicians should never decide what medical procedures a patient can and cannot receive."According to Tuesday’s ruling, SB 8 imposed an undue burden by:* Increasing the duration of a one-day procedure to two days, "adding to the costs associated with travel, lodging, time away from work, and child care."* Forcing abortion providers to act contrary to their medical judgment and the best interest of their patient by conducting a procedure that delivers no benefit to the woman.* Requiring substantial additional training to conduct fetal-demise procedures that "are not feasible for any physician other than subspecialists in the high-risk field of maternal-fetal medicine."The appeals court also rejected Paxton’s argument that SB 8 promotes the state’s interest in preventing fetal pain."Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have concluded that fetal pain is not even possible" before the 22nd week of pregnancy or later, Dennis wrote.Texas law, he added, already bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.This is a developing story.

&nbsp;A federal appeals court struck down a Texas abortion law that bans the most common type of second-trimester abortion unless doctors first employ an added procedure to ensure fetal demise.In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday evening, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 2017 law places an impermissible burden on women by forcing them to "endure a medically unnecessary and invasive additional procedure" against their doctors’ advice."The Act confers no medical benefit for women patients while forcing them to undergo unnecessary, painful, invasive, and even experimental procedures," said...

Appeals court strikes down Texas abortion law from 2017

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