Judge lets one-of-a-kind ‘futile care’ law stand | Houston Chronicle

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By: Todd Ackerman

In a victory for Texas’ medical community, a Harris County state district judge Friday rejected a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law that allows doctors to withdraw life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of the patient or guardian.

Judge Bill Burke said it would be “a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water” to repeal the controversial 1999 law, enacted in response to doctors’ push to eliminate care they believe prolongs suffering in terminal patients. The law, which is unique to Texas, has drawn criticism from some families who say it gives doctors too much power.
“It would be a big mistake to throw out a statute in place for nearly 20 years that seems to be working pretty well,” Burke said in rejecting the request for summary judgment declaring the law unconstitutional. “If you think the law doesn’t provide sufficient protection for patients, go to the Legislature to remedy it.”

The ruling was applauded by the Texas Medical Association, which was part of a broad coalition of groups who together filed a motion in support of the law. The groups included Texas Alliance For Life, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Coalition of Texans With Disabilities and the Texas Alliance for Patient Access.

Many Key Abortion Laws in the Lone Star State | One News Now

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By: Charlie Butts

A pro-life leader from Texas contends that a court decision earlier this week underlines the need for more pro-life federal judges.

Federal District Judge Lee Yeakel issued a temporary injunction against a law banning dismemberment abortion, which was set to go into effect Friday.

Texas Alliance for Life Executive Director Joe Pojman is disappointed with the ruling.

“A state like Texas should have the right to protect unborn children from this absolutely gruesome method of abortion, which involves killing the baby by tearing him or her limb from limb,” Pojman argued.

Texas Abortion Restriction Is Temporarily Blocked | New York Times

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By: Maggie Astor

Joe Pojman, the executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, which supports the Texas law, said in a statement that the state “should have the right to protect innocent unborn babies from dismemberment abortions, in which a doctor kills a child by tearing him or her into pieces.” The fact that courts have consistently ruled against bans on dilation-and-evacuation abortions, he argued, “shows how extremely out of touch the Supreme Court precedent is with modern science, which clearly tells us that an unborn child’’ is a living human being.

Federal judge blocks new Texas law that would limit second-trimester abortions | Dallas Morning News

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By: John Savage

A federal district court judge on Thursday blocked a Texas law that would prevent doctors from performing the most common second-trimester abortion procedure. The law, passed by the Legislature this spring, was set to take effect Friday.

“The dismemberment procedure really is as grotesque and inhumane as anyone can imagine. The baby is killed in the process of being pulled limb from limb in the womb,“ Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, told The Dallas Morning News.
“The attorney general’s office made it clear to the judge that this law is not about banning abortions, it is just about banning one very inhumane method of killing the child,” he added.

Attorney General Ken Paxton is expected to appeal the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Texas Abortion Restriction Is Temporarily Blocked | MSN.com

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By: Maggie Astor

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Texas law that would restrict the most common type of second-trimester abortion.

In a 17-page ruling on Thursday, Judge Lee Yeakel of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas found that opponents of the law had shown “a substantial likelihood of success on the merits,” and granted a two-week restraining order while the case proceeds. The restriction had been scheduled to take effect on Friday.

The law — part of Senate Bill 8, passed this spring — would require doctors to stop the fetus’s heart before performing a dilation-and-evacuation abortion, in which the cervix is dilated and the fetus is removed in pieces. This would be done either by injecting chemicals or by cutting the umbilical cord. There would be an exception for life-threatening emergencies.

Joe Pojman, the executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, which supports the Texas law, said in a statement that the state “should have the right to protect innocent unborn babies from dismemberment abortions, in which a doctor kills a child by tearing him or her into pieces.” The fact that courts have consistently ruled against bans on dilation-and-evacuation abortions, he argued, “shows how extremely out of touch the Supreme Court precedent is with modern science, which clearly tells us that an unborn child’’ is a living human being.