Published

January 09, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2017

CONTACT
Melissa Duncan
512.477.1244 (o)
melissa@texasallianceforlife.org

AUSTIN, TX — Federal District Judge Lee Yeakel has issued a “temporary restraining order” preventing the enforcement of, for at least 14 days, the portion of SB 8 that bans a method of abortions in which a live unborn child is dismembered alive. The order in Whole Woman’s Health v. Paxton can be seen here.

The Texas Legislature passed SB 8, by Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) and Rep. Cindy Burkett (R-Sunnyvale). Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law shortly afterward. The law was set to go into effect on September 1.

Several abortion providers including Planned Parenthood and Whole Woman’s Health are challenging the law.

The following statement can be attributed to Joe Pojman, Ph.D., executive director of Texas Alliance for Life:

“Texas should have the right to protect innocent unborn babies from dismemberment abortions — in which a doctor kills a child by tearing him or her into pieces. These are babies who are alive and healthy. Other states’ bans on dismemberment abortion have been struck down by federal courts whenever they have been challenged. This shows how extremely out of touch the Supreme Court precedent is with modern science, which clearly tells us that an unborn child is living human being.”

Judge Yeakel also set a hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction on September 14.