Senator Murray Statement on a Federal Judge Blocking Enforcement of the Texas’ Cruel and Dangerous Abortion Ban

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), released the following statement on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas granting the Biden Administration’s request for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of SB8, Texas’ dangerous abortion ban. The law had been in effect since September 1, meaning that patients in Texas have been without their constitutionally protected right to an abortion for over a month.

“For 36 days, people in Texas have been deprived of their constitutional right to an abortion. They’ve been unable to make their own decisions about their health, their future, their lives—or had to find the time, child care, and funds to travel to another state just to get the reproductive health care that they need. To be clear, many people—especially people with low incomes and people of color—do not have those means. And they’ve faced this cruelty under the threat that complete strangers could file lawsuits against their friends, family, doctors or nurses in order to force them to be pregnant when they don’t want to be.

“Just a single day of SB8 being in effect was too many, let alone 36. So I’m incredibly thankful this injunction blocked enforcement of a cruel, dangerous law—and that Texans can breathe a small sigh of relief for now. But we can’t stop fighting for a minute. Make no mistake: extreme Republicans are still pushing to enforce Texas’ abortion ban, and across the country and in the Supreme Court, Roe is still on the line. We must protect the right to abortion and ensure everyone has control over their own bodies—and that starts with passing the Women’s Health Protection Act in the Senate.”

Senator Murray recently joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lead Sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in announcing an upcoming Senate vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act. The Women’s Health Protection Act passed the House on September 24.

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