Biden Administration to Sue Texas Over Anti-Abortion Law as Soon as Thursday: Report

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President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is preparing to sue the state of Texas over its restrictive new abortion law that went into effect last week, The Wall Street Journal is reporting. It could be filed as soon as Thursday.

Signed in May, the law bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is around six weeks into pregnancy. But rather than rely on state officials from enforcing the law, the legislation allows “any person, other than an officer or employee of a state or local governmental entity in this state” to sue any person who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion.”

The statute is written broadly enough so that it could conceivably leave open to liability any taxi or ride-hailing app drivers who transport women to clinics for the purpose of getting an abortion. Uber and Lyft have already said they will cover the legal fees of any drivers who are sued under the law.

Plaintiffs who are successful can be awarded at least $10,000 per defendant.

As the Journal noted, “Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday that the Justice Department was urgently exploring all of its options, which legal experts said could include attempting to strip federal funding and trying to determine whether there are federal facilities within the state that could provide abortions.”

The law went into effect last week after the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 not to stay its implementation. Given the major constitutional implications of the case, the high court may very well rule on it after oral arguments eventually.

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has panned the law, calling it “so unconstitutional, I don’t even know where to begin.”