Start United States USA — Criminal Justice Department Says U.S. Will ‘Protect’ Texas Women Seeking Abortions

Justice Department Says U.S. Will ‘Protect’ Texas Women Seeking Abortions

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The statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland did not directly challenge a new Texas law that banned nearly all abortions in the state.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said on Monday that the Justice Department would continue to protect women who seek an abortion in Texas, days after a state law enacting a near-complete ban on the procedure went in effect. “We will not tolerate violence against those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services,” Mr. Garland said in a statement. “The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack.” Mr. Garland said the Justice Department would “protect the constitutional rights of women and other persons” under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE, a 1994 federal law that guarantees access to the entrances of clinics that offer reproductive health services, including those that offer abortions. Under the law, it is illegal to threaten, obstruct or injure a person seeking access to such a clinic or to damage the clinic’s property, punishable by a fine or imprisonment. In his statement, Mr. Garland did not directly challenge the Texas law, known as Senate Bill 8, which is the most restrictive in the nation and bans all abortions when cardiac activity can be detected. That is usually around six weeks into the pregnancy and before many women know that they are pregnant. The law includes no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Mr. Garland’s statement appeared to be an initial step by the Biden administration to find a way to counter a state law that has pushed the issue of abortion rights back into the center of American politics.

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