NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Justice Department on Monday vowed to “protect” women seeking abortions in Texas following the passage of the state’s controversial, restrictive new abortion law.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland also pledged to do everything possible to challenge the law, which effectively bans almost all abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected — typically six weeks into pregnancy.
“While the Justice Department urgently explores all options to challenge Texas SB8 in order to protect the constitutional rights of women and other persons, including access to an abortion, we will continue to protect those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services pursuant to our criminal and civil enforcement of the FACE Act,” Garland said in a statement.
The FACE Act, passed in 1994, “prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services,” Garland said.
Texas’s new abortion law, signed by Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott, has sparked outrage among women across the country who view the restrictions as a gross violation of women’s bodily autonomy.
The Supreme Court declined to block the vote in a 5-4 ruling last week.