DOJ Sues Texas Over Anti-Abortion Law: ‘Open Defiance of the Constitution’

The Department of Justice has sued the state of Texas over its restrictive new anti-abortion law that went into effect last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday in a press conference.

The law bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around the sixth week of pregnancy. However, instead of relying on state authorities to enforce the ban, the legislation, known as S.B. 8, 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.”

Winning plaintiffs are entitled to receive at least $10,000 for each defendant they sue successfully.

The DOJ’s complaint was filed on Thursday. It states:

Texas enacted S.B. 8 in open defiance of the Constitution. The statute prohibits most pre-viability abortions, even in cases of rape, sexual abuse, or incest. It also prohibits any effort to aid—or, indeed, any intent to aid—the doctors who provide pre-viability abortions or the women who exercise their right to seek one. Because S.B. 8 clearly violates the Constitution, Texas adopted an unprecedented scheme “to insulate the State from responsibility…

Speaking at the presser, Garland said, “The act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent.”

He added that “the statute includes an unprecedented scheme to, in the chief justice’s words, quote, ‘insulate the state from responsibility.'”

The law went into after the Supreme Court denied an emergency petition from opponents seeking to block the law’s implementation. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court’s liberal wing.

CNN also relayed a statement from a spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who signed the S.B. 8 into law.

“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 and unborn,” read the statement. “We are confident that the courts will uphold and protect that right to life.”

Watch above via CNN.