Thomas More Society attorneys are applauding a federal court order that supports the State of Texas in the lawsuit it filed challenging United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra’s guidance to medical providers regarding abortion. Federal District Judge James Hendrix of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an Order on August 23, 2022, denying Becerra’s Motion to Dismiss and imposing a Preliminary Injunction in the case of State of Texas et al. v. Becerra et al. The Thomas More Society, a not-for-profit, national public interest law firm, filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief supporting the State of Texas in its quest to block Becerra’s emergency abortion mandate.

Thomas More Society Amicus Among Arguments Considered in Judge’s Decision

Becerra issued the Biden administration’s federal guidance on July 11, 2022, in the aftermath of the United States Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Characterizing elective abortion as a mandatory emergency service, Becerra attempted to drag abortion under the umbrella of compulsory treatments required, even if in violation of state law, by the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), and also in violation of EMTALA’s requirement that stabilizing treatment be given to both the mother and her unborn child.

By use of a guidance letter, HHS illegally redefined the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act and prompted the State of Texas to file suit seeking to prevent enforcement of EMTALA as redefined by the Health and Human Services guidance in Texas hospitals.

The Thomas More Society amicus filed on August 19, 2022, argued that this federal government abortion mandate is “controlling healthcare providers, many of whom hold pro-life religious beliefs.” The brief detailed how Becerra is “attempting to use the abortion mandate to override religious liberty protections” by means of a purported interpretation of the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act.

Thomas More Society Special Counsel Tyler Brooks pointed out that: “Religious beliefs are legally protected. These actions of Secretary Becerra imperil the free exercise of pro-life healthcare providers’ religious beliefs in violation of federal statutory law and the United State Constitution. For this reason, the abortion mandate should be enjoined, and we are pleased that the judge has denied the government’s motion to dismiss and has issued a preliminary injunction.”

Read the Memorandum Opinion and Order issued on August 23, 2022, by Judge James Hendrix of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in State of Texas et al. v. Becerra et al., here.

Read the Brief of the Thomas More Society as Amicus Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction and in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, filed on August 19, 2022, in State of Texas et al. v. Becerra et al., in United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas here.