This weekend, the American gynecologist admitted that he had violated the new Texas abortion law, subjected himself to a court order that could allow the court to verify the constitutionality of this text.
In a column published in the Washington Post, Alan Braid explained that he aborted on September 6 a woman who “exceeded the new threshold set by the Conservative state” in the southern United States.
A doctor with 45 years of professional experience claims to have acted in accordance with his “obligation to care” for his patient and respecting “her fundamental right” to care. “I was well aware that this could have legal implications, but I wanted to make sure that Texas did not get away with trying to avoid revising this egregious unconstitutional law,” he explained.
The new rule, which came into force on September 1, prohibits abortion, including in cases of rape or incest, upon detection of a fetal heartbeat, that is, around the sixth week of pregnancy.
State law contradicts the jurisprudence of the US Supreme Court, which in 1973 recognized the right of women to have an abortion when the fetus is not viable, that is, at about 22 weeks of gestation. But the country’s highest court refused to block a Texas law from going into effect by a margin of five to four, citing “new procedural issues.”
The Texas Rule includes an unprecedented trick: surveillance is assigned “exclusively” to citizens who are encouraged to report any person suspected of helping a woman terminate her pregnancy after six weeks of pregnancy.
This legal provision has hitherto made it difficult for federal courts to intervene. Usually, abortion rights advocates sue the law enforcement attorneys, but in the Texas case, they have no one to call until a complaint is filed.
Braid’s confession should get us out of this impasse. In the event of prosecution, the legality of the law can be challenged and the court must decide.
At the same time, another legal path was opened by the government of Democratic President Joe Biden, who filed a complaint against the state of Texas for violating the Constitution.
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it would challenge Mississippi’s December 1 law banning nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Mississippi case will be the first abortion case to be discussed since former President Donald Trump appointed three judges to a nine-judge panel, giving the Conservatives a 6-to-3 majority.
