Joe Biden administration asks US court to block 'controversial' Texas abortion law

US President Joe Biden's administration on Friday said that it will approach the Department of Justice to restore women’s reproductive rights in the state of Texas and get the controversial anti-abortion bill scrapped. Officials in the Biden administration on Friday reiterated that they will ask the Supreme Court to block the ban on abortions in Texas, citing the interest in upholding Americans' constitutional rights. US Supreme Court, last month, had outlined the procedural issues when it decided to intervene in the restrictive bill that garnered 5-4 votes. According to reports, the court “did not rule on the merits” of the case brought by abortion providers. Texas new bill threatens 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that enshrined woman's legal right to abortion.

In a recent development, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the ban on abortions in Texas once the heartbeat of the fetus is detected, a move widely celebrated by the anti-abortion groups and Conservatives. A spokesman for the US Justice Department confirmed it "intends to ask the Supreme Court to vacate the Fifth Circuit's stay.” The DoJ is expected to file an appeal in the coming days, and Biden's administration has now vowed to get the Texas ban removed which the Democrats argue threatens women’s rights. 

US supreme court with 6-3 conservative majority can block the abortion law

The US Supreme Court which has the 6-3 conservative majority can reverse the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals' decision, as per the reports, therefore, blocking the law completely. Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley told the US reporters that the federal government will push the Supreme Court to reverse abortion bans due to the mounting pressure by the abortion-rights supporters. The law was effective on Sept. 1, and the Texas Attorney General's Office called the decision a “testament that we are on the right side of the law and life” in an official statement. The "Texas Heartbeat Act” meanwhile allows members of the public to sue doctors who perform abortions on pregnant women once a heartbeat is detected. Those filing complaints will be subject to the reward of $10,000 for initiating cases. 

Earlier, White House press secretary Jen Psaki mocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s response to a question about abortion and rape as she criticized Texas Republicans for passing the legislation. “If Gov. Abbott has a means of eliminating all rapists or all rape from the U.S., then there’d be bipartisan support for that,” Psaki said. "There has never in the history of the country in the world, been any leader who's ever been able to eliminate rape, eliminate rapists from our streets," she added while talking to the reporters during White House press conference.