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Pro-abortion groups appeal to Supreme Court against Texas’ ‘Heartbeat Act’

August 30, 2021 Catholic News Agency 0
Pro-life and pro-abortion advocates outside of the Supreme Court during oral arguments in the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, March 2, 2016. / Catholic News Agency

Washington D.C., Aug 30, 2021 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

Pro-abortion groups are asking the Supreme Court to block Texas’ law that would allow private citizens to sue abortion providers for illegal abortions. The law bans most abortions in the state after the detection of a fetal heartbeat – as early as five weeks into pregnancy

On Monday, several abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood’s affiliates in Texas, filed a motion at the Supreme Court requesting that Justice Samuel Alito issue an injunction blocking Texas’ law from going into effect before Sept. 1. 

The “Texas Heartbeat Act”, S.B. 8, is enforced by allowing private civil lawsuits against illegal abortions. 

In response to the motion by pro-abortion groups, the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List stated on Twitter, “Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry continually run to the courts since they are losing hearts and minds nationwide.”

The head of the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the abortion providers in the lawsuit against Texas, warned that the state “will have effectively overturned Roe v. Wade” if the law goes into effect. 

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights said that the law will force women seeking abortions to “travel out of state – in the middle of a pandemic” to get an abortion. 

The groups appealed to the Supreme Court following their failed attempts in the lower courts to halt the law from going into effect. 

After the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law on Aug. 18, the pro-abortion groups asked for a court hearing on the law – which the Fifth Circuit canceled on Friday. On Sunday, the Fifth Circuit also rejected a series of emergency motions to block the law. 

Texas’ law requires doctors to search for a baby’s heartbeat before performing an abortion. If a heartbeat is detected – which can be as early as five or six weeks into pregnancy – doctors are prohibited from performing an abortion except in a case of medical emergency. 

The law is unique in that it is enforced by private civil lawsuits and not by the government; successful lawsuits are entitled to at least $10,000 in damages, plus costs and attorney’s fees. 

Pro-abortion advocates say that the law creates a “bounty hunting” system that rewards people for filing lawsuits against abortionists. 

The group Texas Right to Life created a website in late August that enables people to report anonymous tips of illegal abortions. 

On Monday, Susan B. Anthony List said that the state legislature “acted on the will of the people,” passing a law “reflecting the scientific reality that unborn children are human beings, with beating hearts as early as five weeks.”

“We stand with Texas and hope that, soon, the Court will finally unshackle all states to be able to protect the most vulnerable among us,” the group stated. In its fall term, the court will hear arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case some legal experts say could result in the court’s Roe ruling being significantly altered or reversed.

“We are so gratified HB 1280, the Human Life Protection Act, and SB 8, the Heartbeat Act, passed and were signed into law by the Governor,” said Jennifer Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops in a statement in May. 

Allmon said the legislation “goes a long way in building a culture of life in Texas.”


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News Briefs

Cardinal Burke tweets that his condition is improving

August 28, 2021 Catholic News Agency 3
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke during the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, June 29, 2019. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 28, 2021 / 21:38 pm (CNA).

Raymond Cardinal Burke issued a personal statement via Twitter Saturday night, thanking his doctors, all those who have offered prayers on his behalf, and especially God “who has brought me to this point of healing and recovery.”

Coming a week after the last public update on his health, Cardinal Burke’s tweet provided another positive sign that his condition has improved since being placed on ventilator Aug. 14 due to complications from COVID-19. He said he now faces an “intensive rehabilitation.”

“I have been transferred out of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and settled in a hospital room where the doctors, nurses, and numerous hospital staff have provided vigilant, superb, and steadfast medical care,” the 73-year-old American cardinal tweeted.

“For these dedicated professionals, too, I offer heartfelt thanks, as well as to the priests who have ministered to me sacramentally. To those who have offered innumerable Rosaries and prayers, lighted candles, and requested the offering of the Holy Mass, I extend my sincere gratitude, and I ask the Lord and His Mother to bless you all. I also thank my brother bishops and priests who have offered Mass for me or prayed for me at the altar. 

“This generous outpouring of grace unites me to you in a special way, as I am also particularly united to all victims suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 virus,” the tweet continued.

A leading prelate in the U.S. Catholic Church known for his outspoken defense of traditional Catholicism, Cardinal Burke is the former leader of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Diocese of La Crosse in his home state of Wisconsin.

Now based in Rome, Cardinal Burke fell ill while visiting Wisconsin and was transferred to a hospital as his condition worsened.

In a prior update on Aug. 21, the Shrine of Our Lady of Gaudalupe in La Crosse revealed that he had spoken to his sister by phone able to speak by phone with his sister on Saturday morning and “expressed his deep gratitude for the many prayers offered on his behalf.” 

In his tweet Saturday, Cardinal Burke reflected on the significance of the motto he took when he was selected for the episcopacy: “Secundum Cor Tuum” (“According to Your Heart.”)

“All things ordered in and through the Divine Will have as their origin the Sacred Heart of Our Savior, whose fundamental motivation is His Eternal Love for His Father and for His children,” he stated.

“Since Divine Providence has governed that I remain hospitalized for the present, I now reaffirm that same episcopal conviction: suffering, united with the suffering of Jesus Christ, is truly efficacious in His Divine Plan for our salvation when accepted willingly and wholeheartedly. Saint Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, teaches us the meaning of our suffering: ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church’ (Col 1:24.)”

Cardinal Burke said in his tweet that he regrets he is unable to respond personally to the many letters, phone calls, and other expressions of support he has received during his illness. He said the Shrine of Our Lady of Gaudalupe will continue to handle communications on his behalf during his recovery.


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