Last month, when Judge Lee Yeakel issued an injunction against the ambulatory surgical center (ASC) provision of HB 2, he abandoned Texas women to the predatory, high-risk practices of Big Abortion. Time and again, abortion businesses prove their interest in profit over women’s health, and that is exactly what they demonstrated in Whole Woman’s Health v. Lackey, a lawsuit against ASC provisions.
In his ruling, Yeakel failed to consider the health risks posed to Texas women when they procure abortions at sub-par abortion mills that are not outfitted with the basic amenities that must be in place if deaths like that of Karnamaya Mongar (who died while paramedics struggled to navigate her out of a non-ASC abortion mill while she bled out) are to be prevented. Big Abortion argued – and Yeakel agreed – that “access” to abortion should trump the women’s health considerations defended by the state. Yeakel wrote:
The court concludes that the overall lack of practical access to abortion services resulting from clinic closures throughout Texas as a result of House Bill 2 is compelling evidence of a substantial obstacle erected by the act.
In reality, Yeakel’s ruling prolongs a system in which Big Abortion is aided by the law in overtly choosing profit over women’s health. Using the fabricated legal tool of “undue burden,” Yeakel and Whole Woman’s Health shovedthe health of Texas women to the side once again. Pro-Life Texans have consistently said ‘No’ to this attitude, and the battle continues at the 5th Circuit this Friday, which will consider arguments against Yeakel’s injunction.