Having failed to win over voters with their anti-Life message, Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry are gasping for air in Pro-Life Texas. As a result of their failed election efforts, the Texas legislature is stacked with Pro-Life politicians, who in turn reflect their constituencies by working hard to advance strong Pro-Life measures. This is exactly what happened last summer when the Texas legislature – in spite of an imported abortion-promoting mob and rabidly anti-Life filibuster – successfully passed the majority-supported Pro-Life law, House Bill 2. But the cycle continued, and the debate over HB2 gave birth to abortion advocating gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who has proven herself an ideological farce and flop among Texas voters.
In the face of utter failure in Texas, the abortion lobby has resorted to its last hope: dragging each Pro-Life victory back to court to challenge every iota of language found in our Pro-Life legislation. Thankfully, the courts see the ridiculous nature of big abortion’s games, and send the industry home with its tail between its legs time and time again. The following is a running tally of the abortion industry’s current court challenges:
1. Whole Woman’s Health, et al., v. Lakey, et al. over the Ambulatory Surgical Center requirements in HB2:
This lawsuit, filed in district court by attorneys from New York’s Center for Reproductive Rights and five abortion businesses, challenges the ambulatory surgical center (ASC) requirements of HB2 that regulate the building and safety standards abortion clinics must follow. These rules are scheduled to go into effect in September of 2014. This lawsuit also asks the court for immunity for the abortionists at two abortion centers in rural Texas from admitting privileges requirements, which ensure that abortionists are peer-reviewed by the local medical community that will be left to care for the victims of injuries or illness caused by elective abortions. The motion was filed on April 2, 2014.
Next step: There will be a hearing in a US District Court on August 4th.
Read more: The full lawsuit can be read here.
2. Planned Parenthood, et al. v. Abbott, et al. over the admitting privileges and chemical abortion requirements in HB2:
In March, an all-female panel of three 5th Circuit judges flatly refused to overturn portions of HB2 that protect women’s healthby requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and to follow higher standards in committing chemical abortions. With its bottom line undoubtedly crippled by the measure, Planned Parenthood has chosen not to give up its fight against women’s health and has requested a rehearing of the case before the full 14-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. This move is particularly indicative of the abortion industry’s desperation in Texas. First, they failed to execute the election of pro-abortion legislators in Texas; then they failed to prevent HB2 from passing in the legislature last summer. After that, they failed to stop HB2 from being enacted in court through a flurry of appeals and hearings. Now they are just grasping at straws with requests for re-hearings. How long can they keep this up? Will they try to ask for a re-re-hearing?
Next step: We are currently waiting to hear whether the 5th Circuit court will re-hear the trial.
3. Planned Parenthood’s WHP lawsuit:
The Woman’s Health Program (WHP), a healthcare program for low-income women in Texas, excluded Planned Parenthood from receiving funding in 2012 after a drawn-out legal battle, which ultimately resulted in re-funding the WHP with state funds, instead of federal funding. Planned Parenthood had been leeching funding from the WHP under the guise of sending the money to the “affiliates” of their abortion clinics. They claimed these affiliates solely performed non-abortion services, but in reality the organizations were not separate since all government funding is fungible and was controlled by the same organizations in Texas. The largest elective abortion business in Texas, Planned Parenthood, used these false divisions to circumvent regulations but failed to separate its actual facilities or practices. The abortion giant lost the federal lawsuit over the Pro-Life rule back in 2012, but recently revived a lawsuit in a state district court. After requesting a review of their ability to continue the lawsuit, in April of 2014 a Texas Court of Appeals affirmed that Planned Parenthood does have standing to challenge the rule that banned abortion providers and their affiliates from the Women’s Health Program.
Next Step: Waiting to see if the Texas Attorney General appeals to the Texas Supreme Court or whether the case will continue in the Travis County District Court.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/court-planned-parenthood-suit-may-continue/nfWkB/
4. Robinson, et al. vs UGHS over hospital’s discrimination of two abortionists
The abortion industry is still holding onto hope in its request of a rehearing of Planned Parenthood v. Abbott (as mentioned above), and is expecting the section of HB2 to stand that requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Following the March ruling by the three-judge panel in the 5th Circuit court, two abortionists in Dallas sued a local hospital for removing their admitting privileges. Abortionists Lamar Robinson and Jasbir Ahluwalia are unable to legally commit elective abortions without the admitting privileges they have been unable to attain. The lawsuit which they filed claims that they are being discriminated against by UGHS Dallas Hospital simply because they are abortionists. A Dallas County District Court released a preliminary ruling in April allowing the abortionists to continue committing abortions without privileges until the lawsuit is settled. In settling the lawsuit, the court will determine whether the hospital broke any anti-discrimination laws by revoking the privileges.
Next Set:The Dallas County Court will have a hearing on June 30th.