Justice Department takes on Texas abortion law in lawsuit

The Justice Department is suing Texas over the state’s new controversial restrictions on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday.

Garland said the law is plainly improper both for its onerous restrictions on abortion access and for the provisions allowing state residents to sue anyone who aids or carries out restricted abortions. The lawsuit was filed Thursday afternoon in federal district court in Texas.

The administration’s lawsuit asks for a court order nullifying the statute and prohibiting the state’s officials and even private citizens from “implementing or enforcing” the law.

What Garland said: “The act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent,” Garland said at a press conference.

“If it prevails, it may become a model for action in other areas by other states and with respect to other constitutional rights and judicial precedents. nor need one think long or hard to realize the damage that would be done to our society if states were allowed to implement laws that empower any private individual to infringe on another’s constitutionally protected rights in this way,” he added.

Gov. Abbott’s office responds: “The most precious freedom is life itself,” said the governor’s press secretary Renae Eze in an emailed statement.

“Unfortunately, President Biden and his Administration are more interested in changing the national narrative from their disastrous Afghanistan evacuation and reckless open border policies instead of protecting the innocent unborn,” the statement continued.