Trial Over Texas' Controversial Abortion Ban Comes to a Close

AUSTIN — A trial over Texas’ latest abortion ban wrapped up Wednesday, with a federal judge acknowledging his decision will inevitably be appealed.Attorneys for abortion rights advocates and the state delivered closing arguments in the five-day trial concerning Senate Bill 8, which bans “dismemberment abortions” while the fetus is still alive. Whole Woman’s Health and other groups sued the state in July after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law.The non-medical term appears to include "dilation and evacuation," the most common procedure for second-trimester abortions. Doctors could face fines or jail time for performing such abortions.The state argues that stopping a fetus’s heart would not make abortions harder or more inaccessible, while the plaintiffs say causing fetal demise before all dilation and evacuation abortions adds unnecessary risk.  Continue reading...