US: President Biden condemns Supreme Court's refusal to block #TexasAbortionLaw
US President Joe Biden Thursday lambasted the Supreme Court of the United States after it refused to ban a Texas law that prohibits access to abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. By rejecting to block the country's strictest anti-abortion law, the top court allowed the Texas Heartbeat Act—sometimes referred to as Senate Bill 8 (SB8)—to come into force in Texas on September 1.
Condemning the US Supreme Court's refusal to ban the Texas Heartbeat Act, Biden said the law "unleashes unconstitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impacts." He further asserted that the judges of the apex court, who were all appointed by former US President Donald Trump, have delivered "an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights."
"The Supreme Court's ruling overnight is an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for almost fifty years," said Biden. "This (Texas anti-abortion) law is so extreme it does not even allow for exceptions in the case of rape or incest," added the US President.
After the Supreme Court decided not to intervene with the Texas law, US Vice-President Kamala Harris tweeted, "The Supreme Court's decision...dealt a significant blow to Roe v. Wade." "We will not stand by and allow our nation to go back to...days of back-alley abortions. We will use every lever to defend the right to safe and legal abortion. We will fight this," she added.
To recall, the Supreme Court denied an emergency appeal against the Texas law before midnight on Wednesday in a 5-4 vote. The Texas Heartbeat Act prohibits abortions in most cases after six weeks of pregnancy. It allows any member of the public in Texas to file a complaint against doctors/healthcare providers/family members supporting a woman in aborting her child after six weeks of pregnancy.
"By allowing a law to go into effect that empowers private citizens in Texas to sue health care providers, family members supporting a woman exercising her right to choose after six weeks, or even a friend who drives her to a hospital or clinic, it unleashes unconstitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impacts," said Biden in a statement.
Further, Biden said, "Complete strangers will now be empowered (by the anti-abortion law) to inject themselves in the most private and personal health decisions faced by women." He, however, said his administration will launch a "whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision" and see "what steps the federal government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions."
