Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is setting the stage to support a lawsuit seeking to block Texas controversial abortion ban in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in regard to the law in Texas in just weeks, but chose not to immediately block the law ahead of the hearings.
“Women in Texas and across the country are counting on the Supreme Court to uphold its unbroken, fifty years of precedent recognizing the constitutional right to an abortion,” Herring said. “That’s why I’m encouraged to see the court take up this case in such an extraordinarily expedited fashion, but share the extreme disappointment of Justice Sotomayor that this wildly unconstitutional and demeaning law was not immediately blocked while the Court considers the cases.
Herring has supported the Biden administration's lawsuit against the ban and worked towards seeking a temporary block of the ban as the court considers the case.
“Every day this abortion ban remains in effect infringes on the rights of women, undermines the rule of law, and encourages more states to empower legal vigilantes to harass, intimidate, and intrude on women’s most personal and private decisions," Herring said. "And to make matters worse, the Texas scheme rewards these vigilantes with bounties in the form of legal fees against women and doctors. Texas and its conservative allies must not be rewarded for crafting a convoluted enforcement scheme for the explicit purpose of avoiding judicial review of its blatantly unconstitutional abortion ban."
Herring previously led 21 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief against South Carolina's six-week abortion ban.
“I have already fought in court to strike down this disgusting, unconstitutional abortion ban, and now that the Supreme Court is taking up the matter, I will ensure that Virginia stands with women and their constitutional right to make their own healthcare decisions,” Herring said.