周四，德克萨斯州一家法院驳回了一名医生的诉讼，该医生被指控不顾州政府的禁令为一名妇女提供堕胎服务严格禁止在程序上。
Alan Braid医生在2021年9月初为一名患者实施了堕胎手术，这距离S.B.8生效仅五天，该法案禁止怀孕六周后堕胎。病人的怀孕时间超过了六周。
然而，贝克萨尔县法官Aaron Haas表示，他将放弃该案件，这是对德克萨斯州法律的一个重大打击，该法律允许公民起诉任何帮助患者接受堕胎护理的人，包括医生。包括美国最高法院在内的联邦法院先前拒绝阻止S.B. 8，说他们无力阻止法律。
几个重叠的德州法律禁止几乎所有的堕胎，包括强奸或乱伦的情况。唯一的例外是母亲的生命或健康处于危险之中。
南B.8允许任何公民起诉任何实施堕胎或协助孕妇获得堕胎程序的人。该法律向任何成功起诉堕胎提供者、医疗工作者或任何帮助他人获得堕胎护理的人的公民奖励至少1万美元。
In this Oct. 8, 2022, file photo, demonstrators gather and march outside the 1910 Harris County Courthouse in Houston, Texas.
Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto通过AP，FILE
在一篇专栏文章中华盛顿邮报去年，布雷德说，他不顾禁令，因为有“关心的责任。”
“我这样做是因为我有责任照顾这个病人，就像我对所有病人一样，也因为她有接受这种照顾的基本权利，”他写道。
Braid对他提起了三起诉讼--一起是由德克萨斯州被取消律师资格的伊利诺伊州律师Felipe Gomez提起的，一起是在阿肯色州，第三起是在伊利诺伊州--但只有德克萨斯州的案件被受理。
周四，法院宣布驳回诉讼，并裁定戈麦斯没有起诉的法律权利，因为他没有受到正在提供的堕胎护理的直接影响。预计一周内会有书面订单。
自S.B.8生效以来，这是第一个也是唯一一个由法院解决的针对提供商的诉讼。
此外，法院表示，它将在下周就允许公民起诉的法律部分是否违反该州宪法做出裁决。
“这是对S.B. 8的赏金猎人计划的重大胜利，因为法院驳回了德克萨斯州可以允许与堕胎无关的人提起诉讼的想法，”生育权利中心总裁兼首席执行官南希·诺萨普在一份声明中说，该中心是Braid的共同代表声明。
“但是这次驳回并没有提供机会从整体上推翻S.B. 8，在多布斯判决之后，德克萨斯州正在执行多项堕胎禁令。结果，患有危及生命的产科急症的德州孕妇被医院拒之门外。没有人应该仅仅为了获得他们需要的医疗保健而濒临死亡，”声明继续说。
在周四的新闻发布会上，该中心的高级律师马克·赫伦(Mark Hearron)告诉记者，布雷德已经被迫关闭了他在德克萨斯州和俄克拉荷马州的诊所，并在新墨西哥州的阿尔伯克基和伊利诺伊州提供护理。
自从最高法院的逆转的决定罗伊案中，至少有12个州已经停止了几乎所有的堕胎服务。
据生殖权利中心称，德州人要获得堕胎护理，面临全国最长的旅行时间。他们被迫往返7个多小时才能到达。
布雷德在一份声明中说:“去年，当我为我的病人提供她所需要的护理时，我是在履行作为一名医生的职责。”。“令人心碎的是，德州人仍然无法在自己的家乡获得基本的医疗保健，医疗服务提供者也不敢开展工作。尽管我们被迫关闭了德克萨斯州的诊所，但我将继续在伊利诺伊州和新墨西哥州的新诊所为该地区的患者提供他们应得的护理。”
Texas court dismisses case against doctor who violated state's abortion ban
A Texas court dismissed a lawsuit Thursday against a doctor accused of providing an abortion to a woman despite the state'sstrict banon the procedure.
Dr. Alan Braid performed the abortion for a patient in early September 2021, just five days after S.B.8 went into effect, which bans abortion after six weeks' gestation. The patient's pregnancy was further along than six weeks.
However, Bexar County Judge Aaron Haas said he was throwing out the case, dealing a major blow to the Texas law that allows citizens to sue anyone who aids a patient in receiving abortion care, including physicians. Federal courts -- including the U.S. Supreme Court -- hadpreviously declinedto block S.B. 8, saying they were powerless to block the law.
Several overlapping Texas laws ban nearly all abortions, including in cases of rape or incest. The only exception is if the mother's life or health is in danger.
S.B.8 allows any private citizen to sue anyone who performs an abortion or assists a pregnant person in obtaining the procedure. The law awards a minimum of $10,000 to any citizen who successfully sues an abortion provider, healthcare worker or anyone who helps someone get access to abortion care.
In an op-ed written forThe Washington Postlast year, Braid said he acted despite the ban because had a "duty to care."
"I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care," he wrote.
Braid had three lawsuits filed against him -- one by disbarred Illinois attorney Felipe Gomez in Texas, one in Arkansas and a third in Illinois -- but only the Texas case was taken up.
On Thursday, the court announced it was dismissing the suit and ruled that Gomez does not have the legal right to sue because he was not been directly affected by the abortion care being provided. A written order is expected to come within a week.
It is the first and only active lawsuit against a provider to be resolved by a court since S.B.8 went into effect.
Additionally, the court said it would make a ruling in the next week about whether the part of the law that allows citizens to sue violates the state's constitution.
"This is a significant win against S.B. 8's bounty-hunting scheme because the court rejected the notion that Texas can allow a person with no connection to an abortion to sue," Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is co-representing Braid, said in astatement.
"But this dismissal did not provide the opportunity to strike down S.B. 8 overall, and in the wake of the Dobbs decision, Texas is enforcing multiple abortion bans. As a result, pregnant Texans with life-threatening obstetric emergencies are being turned away from hospitals. No one should have to be near death just to get the health care they need," the statement continued.
In a press call on Thursday, the Center's senior counsel, Mark Hearron, told reporters that Braid has been forced to close his practices in Texas and Oklahoma and is providing care in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in Illinois.
Since the Supreme Court'sdecision to reverseRoe, at least 12 states have ceased nearly all abortion services.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, Texans face the longest travel times in the country to get access to abortion care. They are forced to travel over seven hours each way for access.
"When I provided my patient with the care she needed last year, I was doing my duty as a physician," Braid said in a statement. "It is heartbreaking that Texans still can't get essential health care in their home state and that providers are left afraid to do their jobs. Though we were forced to close our Texas clinic, I will continue serving patients across the region with the care they deserve at new clinics in Illinois and New Mexico."
