Texas state leaders headed to court again Tuesday in their latest battle against the abortion industry and its barbaric practices.
In a hearing before federal Judge Lee Yeakel, lawyers for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Center for Reproductive Rights argued for and against a ban on brutal dismemberment abortions, the Daily Caller reports.
Signed into law earlier this summer, Texas Senate Bill 8 prohibits dismemberment abortions, a method typically used in the second trimester to kill nearly fully-formed, living unborn babies. It is a barbaric and dangerous procedure in which the unborn baby is ripped apart in the womb and pulled out in pieces while his or her heart is still beating.
On Tuesday, the Center for Reproductive Rights asked Yeakel to block the law before it goes into effect on Friday. The pro-abortion group’s lawyers argued that the law creates a undue burden on women’s access to abortion.
Leaders with Texas Right to Life, who attended the hearing, explained: “The abortion industry disingenuously argued in court that the Dismemberment Abortion Ban raises an undue burden to women seeking second trimester abortions by banning all D&E abortions. In filings and in court, the Attorney General’s office powerfully argued SB 8 clearly only prohibits one specific type of D&E abortion, which the state Legislature defined as ‘Dismemberment Abortions.’”
Texas leaders have strong hopes that the law will be upheld as constitutional. According to Texas Right to Life, Senate Bill 8 was written with the partial-birth abortion ban, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2007, in mind.
“Just like partial-birth abortions, dismemberment abortions are inhumane and gruesome acts of violence against the preborn child,” the pro-life group said in a statement.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the law protects the sanctity and dignity of human life. His lawyers argued Tuesday that the law was written specifically to stop the brutal and gruesome dismemberment of living unborn babies in Texas.
SUPPORT PRO-LIFE NEWS! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation
“Prohibiting this inhumane procedure does not impose any significant health risks or burdens on women,” Paxton said.
Yeakel is a liberal judge who often rules against pro-life legislation, according to the pro-life group. He is expected to make a decision about the case this week.
Texas leaders are ready to defend the law – and unborn babies’ lives – all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. Many expected that pro-abortion groups would challenge the law when it passed.
“Texas Right to Life is thankful to Attorney General Ken Paxton and his expert team who have stated their dedication to defending the Dismemberment Abortion Ban to the highest court necessary,” Texas Right to Life said in a statement to LifeNews.
The pro-life law received strong support in the Texas legislature, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law in June.
The law made Texas the eighth state to protect developing preborn children from such a heinous act. Earlier this year, Arkansas enacted the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act joining Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
The dismemberment abortion ban embodies model legislation from the National Right to Life Committee that would prohibit “dismemberment abortion,” using forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments on a living unborn baby to remove him or her from the womb in pieces. Such instruments typically are used in dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedures.
