Judge Rules Citizen Enforcement of Texas Abortion Law Unconstitutional
District court judge David Peeples found that the Texas abortion law violates the State Constitution and wrote that, if found constituitional, could be applied to guns, same-sex marriage, and freedom of speech.
Landwebs
District court judge David Peeples has ruled that allowing any private citizen to sue abortion providers or others accused of breaking the recently passed Texas abortion law violates the State Constitution, finding that the approach unconstitutionally granted standing to those who were not injured, denied due process and represented an “unlawful delegation of enforcement power to a private person,” reports the New York Times. Texas abortion providers have said they were abiding by the new law because of the threat of legal action from any individual against someone who performs or “aids and abets” the procedure, including clinic staff or even the person who provided transportation to the clinic.
Peebles found that granting awards of “no less than $10,000” to anyone successful in their suits violated the right to due process under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and wrote that the law’s mechanism of delegating enforcement power to private citizens, if found constitutional, could be applied to all manner of contentious issues, including guns, same-sex marriage, freedom of speech and climate change. Abortion providers said that if the ruling were upheld by the State Supreme Court, they would again begin providing abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy because the law could not be enforced.
