When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it claimed to be removing the judiciary from the abortion debate. In reality, it simply gave the courts a macabre new task: deciding how far states can push a patient toward death before allowing her to undergo an emergency abortion.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit offered its own answer, declaring that Texas may prohibit hospitals from providing “stabilizing treatment” to pregnant patients by performing an abortion—withholding the procedure until their condition deteriorates to the point of grievous injury or near-certain death.

The ruling proves what we already know: Roe’s demise has transformed the judiciary into a kind of death panel that holds the power to elevate the potential life of a fetus over the actual life of a patient.

  • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Something needs to be done about the 5th circuit. They routinely make decisions that are directly counter to established law and the Constitution itself.

    • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      but do not counter state laws

      the US has been letting states make decisions instead of making federal laws stick just like cannabis is federally illegal unless the state says so