5th Circuit Appeals Court Reinstates TX Abortion Law;
Abbott Says he Feels ‘Vindicated’;
Nolan Ryan Considering Ag Commissioner Run?;
Opiela Says he has Raised $1M
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Good evening/early morning from Austin.
We hope you had a lot of candy last night, which likely required stealing from your kids.
Here’s the brief:
5TH CIRCUIT REINSTATES TEXAS ABORTION LAW
AP’s Chris Tomlinson reports:
A third of the abortion clinics in Texas can no longer perform the procedure starting Friday after a federal appeals court allowed most of the state’s new abortion restrictions to take effect.
A panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Thursday evening that Texas can enforce its law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital while a lawsuit challenging the restrictions moves forward. The panel issued the ruling three days after District Judge Lee Yeakel determined that the provision violated the U.S. Constitution and said it serves no medical purpose.
The panel’s ruling is not final, and a different panel of judges will likely hear the case in January. But in the meantime, Texas clinics will have to follow the order. Twelve of the 32 clinics in Texas that perform abortions don’t have doctors who have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, meaning they won’t be able to perform the procedure, though they can provide other services.
In its 20-page ruling, the appeals court panel acknowledged that the new provision “may increase the cost of accessing an abortion provider and decrease the number of physicians available to perform abortions.” However, the panel said that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that having “the incidental effect of making it more difficult or more expensive to procure an abortion cannot be enough to invalidate” a law that serves a valid purpose, “one not designed to strike at the right itself.”
Although several conservative states in recent months have approved broad abortion limits, the Texas ones were particularly divisive because of the number of clinics affected and the distance some women would have to travel to get an abortion.
After Yeakel ruled Monday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had made an emergency appeal to the 5th Circuit, arguing that the requirement that doctors have admitting privileges is a constitutional use of the Legislature’s authority.
“This unanimous decision is a vindication of the careful deliberation by the Texas Legislature to craft a law to protect the health and safety of Texas women,” Abbott, a Republican who is running for governor, said in a written statement after Thursday’s decision.
Planned Parenthood said the ruling means “abortion will no longer be available in vast stretches of Texas.” Lawyers for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers had argued that the regulations do not protect women.
“This fight is far from over,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said in a statement. “This restriction clearly violates Texas women’s constitutional rights by drastically reducing access to safe and legal abortion statewide.”
The appeals court left in place a portion of Yeakel’s order that prevents the state from enforcing the 18-year-old U.S. Food and Drug Administration protocol for abortion-inducing drugs in cases where the woman is between 50 and 63 days into her pregnancy. Doctors testifying before the court had said such women would be harmed if the protocol were enforced.
The law that the Legislature passed this summer also bans abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and beginning in October 2014 requires doctors to perform all abortions in surgical facilities.
The restrictions are among the toughest in the nation and gained notoriety when Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis launched a nearly 13-hour filibuster against them in June. Davis has since launched her own gubernatorial campaign and could face Abbott in the November 2014 election.
Officials for one chain of abortion clinics testified during the trial that Yeakel oversaw that they’ve tried to obtain admitting privileges for their doctors at 32 hospitals, but so far only 15 accepted applications and none have announced a decision. Many hospitals with religious affiliations will not allow abortion doctors to work there, while others fear protests if they provide privileges. Many have requirements that doctors live within a certain radius of the facility, or perform a minimum number of surgeries a year that must be done in a hospital.
Federal judges in Wisconsin, Kansas, Mississippi and Alabama all have found problems with state laws prohibiting doctors from conducting abortions if they don’t have hospital admitting privileges.
Mississippi is also in the 5th Circuit, and the appeals court in that case had left in place a temporary injunction preventing the law from being enforced. But unlike in the Mississippi case, Yeakel’s order was a final decision, setting the groundwork for the 5th Circuit to review the merits of the law.
AG ABBOTT SAYS HE FEELS ‘VINDICATED’
AP reports:
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says he sees ‘vindication’ in an appeals court ruling reinstating most of the state’s new abortion restrictions.
That’s after a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday evening that the restrictions may be reinstated, at least temporarily. The ruling comes in the state’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that had struck down most of the restrictions recently approved by the Legislature.
The panel says the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital can take effect while a lawsuit moves forward. The restrictions could take effect Friday.
In Abbott’s words, “This unanimous decision is a vindication of the careful deliberation by the Texas Legislature to craft a law to protect the health and safety of Texas women.”
PLANNED PARENTHOOD TO CONTINUE LEGAL FIGHT
AP reports:
Planned Parenthood says the fight against the tough new Texas abortion restrictions will continue.
The pledge by Planned Parenthood comes after an appeals court ruling late Thursday reinstating most of the restrictions that a lower court had vacated. The ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appealsmeans as many as 12 clinics won’t be able to perform the procedure starting as soon as Friday.
The panel says the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital can take effect while a lawsuit moves forward. The restrictions could take effect Friday.
Cecil Richards is president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which is challenging the restrictions. She says “This fight is far from over.”
NOLAN RYAN TO RUN FOR AG COMMISSIONER?
Locke Lord’s Robert Miller broke the news Thursday that Texas Rangers great Nolan Ryan is “considering” running for Texas Agriculture Commissioner.
The current Republican field for Agriculture Commissioner includes former Republican Party of Texas executive director Eric Opiela, Uvalde Mayor J. Allen Carnes, former State Rep. Sid Miller (R-Stephenville) and former State Rep. Tommy Merritt (R-Longview). Democrat Kinky Friedman is also running.
FWST columnist Bud Kennedy’s column (behind paywall) is on the Ryan speculation.
Perhaps most interesting was the quote he got from Texas Farm Bureau spokesman Gene Hall: “I think he would be wonderful. He would have a platform to go around the world talking about Texas beef. Whatever he says, people are interested.”
Only a couple hours before Miller’s blog post, Opiela sent out a blast email claiming he was only $2,000 from meeting his $1 million fundraising goal by November 1.
My view: Nolan Ryan would be a candidate like George P. Bush, who generates enormous earned media and has major fundraising potential. Chatter about his interest in running for office, following his recent retirement as an executive with the Texas Rangers, has been making the rounds for a few weeks. Whether Ryan wants to live (full time) in Austin and subject himself to the rigors (and intrusion) of a statewide political campaign remains an open question. Filing for office starts in eight days. In the meantime, Opiela is trying to show fundraising strength but the question is how much of the $1 million he says he raised is from his own money? All dollars are equal, but outside money raised leads to greater future fundraising and demonstrates broad and deep support. Wealthy candidates sometimes put a bunch of their own money in, to scare off other candidates, with the intention of never fully spending their investment. The fundraising reports are not public until Jan. 15. All eyes, for now, turn to Nolan Ryan. It has been no secret that the agriculture industry has been working to recruit a candidate for whom they could be motivated to support. Perhaps they have found that candidate in Nolan Ryan. If I had to guess, I’d say there’s a 65% chance he runs for Agriculture Commissioner.
The current field
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#txlege
– Finally, some good news involving TxDOT.
– State Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) and State Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastand) wrote a joint FWSTop ed (behind paywall) on the need for continued oversight of CPRIT.
– Former State Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) has been officially hired by Texas A&M University.
– State Sen. Rodney Ellis penned an SAEN op ed (behind paywall) on the need for continued criminal justice reforms in Texas.
– The Chron editorial board uses a history lesson as a cautionary tale for Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) regarding his efforts to reform (or micromanage) the University of Texas.
2013 / 2014 / 2016:
– The USA Today editorial board weighs in on Gov. Perry’s national blue state jobs tour.
– ABC News reports that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) will avoid involving himself in any U.S. Senate races where a Republican incumbent is running.
– Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) believes that Sen. Cruz, if he wins the Republican nomination in 2016, would bring the “end of the GOP.”
– TT reports on gubernatorial candidate and State Sen. Wendy Davis’ (D-Fort Worth) visit to El Paso and her statement that she will work with locals on border security.
– DMN’s Gromer Jeffers, Jr. reports on the Tea Party primary that U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) has drawn against local activist Katrina Pierson.
– Chron’s Jayme Fraser reports (behind paywall) on an audit of the city’s handling of water meter over-charging. Mayoral challenger Ben Hall attacked incumbent Mayor Annise Parker on the issueThursday.
Other stories of interest:
– The father of Sen. Cruz, Pastor Rafael Cruz, is facing some criticism for recent remarks that he made about President Obama
– U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) has been tapped by the House Armed Services Committee to lead an effort to reduce the costs of Pentagon weapons purchasing.
– In a Chron op ed, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) details the positive economic impact of the widening and deepening of the Sabine-Neches Waterway, which appears close to congressional passage.
– Chron’s Stewart Powell, in a column (behind paywall), tracks the efforts of several Texans to increase NASA funding.
– DMN reports that Energy Future Holdings’ bankruptcy has been delayed.
Lighter clicks:
– Inside Andy Roddick’s $12.5 million Austin home.
– A compelling essay by a guy who made it to the Big Leagues and almost immediately retired — voluntarily. (Reminds you of Field of Dreams)
– A review of where Red Sox slugger David Ortiz ranks among the greatest World Series hitters in MLB history.
– A video of the top 10 plays in the NBA career of the recently-retired Allen Iverson.
– Meet the guy who set a record by driving across the county in 28 hours, 50 minutes.
Today’s Source of Inspiration:
– Reverence for America — at a young age. (Would your kids do this?)
