Lawsuit by abortion providers targets new Texas restriction

July 20--Texas abortion providers and advocates filed a federal court lawsuit Thursday seeking to overturn a new Texas law that will limit the most commonly used second-trimester procedure.

The restriction, included in sweeping abortion regulations approved in the closing days of the Legislature's regular session in May, is set to take effect Sept. 1 and targets "dismemberment" abortions.

The lawsuit, filed in Austin federal court, argues that the restriction places an unconstitutional limit on abortion access by targeting "dilation and evacuation" procedures that physicians have determined to be the safest and most commonly used method of second-trimester abortions.

Similar laws have been enacted in seven other states, though courts have blocked four of them -- with a ruling expected soon on efforts to overturn a similar Arkansas law that takes effect later this month.

Laws in Mississippi and West Virginia were not challenged because they did not affect abortion providers in those states, said Janet Crepps, senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the lawsuit with lawyers for Planned Parenthood.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said it will be an honor to defend the challenged law in court.

"Dismemberment abortions are a gruesome and inhumane method of ending human life. Senate Bill 8 protects the dignity and sanctity of life, along with the integrity of the medical profession," Paxton said in a written statement.

The lead plaintiff in the case is Whole Woman's Health, which operates abortion clinics in Austin and three other Texas cities.

"Politicians, not doctors, are pushing for these restrictions, and they undermine the ability ... to provide the individualized care that is right for our patients," said Amy Hagstrom Miller, head of Whole Woman's Health.

The lawsuit comes as the Texas Legislature is weighing additional abortion-related regulations that Gov. Greg Abbott wants approved -- including a ban on state and local government money to abortion providers, a ban on insurance plans that include general coverage for abortions, and a provision requiring stricter reporting of abortion-related medical complications.

Committee hearings on those bills will begin at 8 a.m. Friday at the Capitol.

The restrictions on second-trimester procedures in Texas were part of Senate Bill 8, which also requires fetal tissue to be buried or cremated, prohibits the use of fetal tissue from abortions in medical research and creates state crimes for two practices already prohibited by federal law -- selling fetal body parts and "partial-birth" abortions. Those regulations also take effect Sept. 1.

In January, a federal judge blocked Texas from enforcing a similar fetal-burial rule that had been adopted last year by state health officials.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin said state officials admitted that the policy offered no health benefits and replaced tissue-disposal regulations that caused no health problems. And although state leaders said the change was needed to promote respect for life and dignity for the "unborn, " Sparks said the rule was difficult to comply with, could lead to arbitrary enforcement and seemed a pretext for restricting access to abortion.

Paxton has asked a federal appeals court to overturn Sparks' ruling. Currently, fetal tissue from abortions is most commonly incinerated and sent to sanitary landfills.

Texas abortion restrictions have had a difficult time in the court recently.

Earlier this year, Sparks also blocked attempts by Texas officials to remove Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider, saying the ouster could disrupt care for many of the 12,500 low-income Texans who get contraceptives and health care from the organization.

Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas received a combined $3.5 million in Medicaid reimbursements last year for health care that did not include abortions. Ninety percent of the Medicaid money came from the federal government, with the rest provided by Texas.

In addition, last year the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out two Texas regulations, passed in the second of two tumultuous special legislative sessions in 2013, that would have left nine abortion clinics operating in the state.

That ruling overturned rules requiring that abortions be performed in hospital-like surgical centers and that abortion doctors have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital, saying the rules combined to erect an improper barrier for women seeking an abortion.

The court rejected arguments from Texas Republican officials who insisted that the regulations were intended to protect the health and safety of women seeking an abortion, signaling that future clinic-closing restrictions will have to show demonstrable health benefits to survive legal challenges.

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