The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on Wednesday (Aug. 18) a 2017 Texas law banning dilation and evacuation, the most common abortion procedure for terminating second-trimester pregnancies.
The court’s ruling reverses a ruling last year by a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit.
Nine judges on the New Orleans-based appeals court joined in ruling in favor of the Texas statute, with five judges dissenting and three recused from the case, Reuters reported.
Dilation and evacuation, known as D&E, is the standard abortion method used after the first trimester of pregnancy. The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, describes the procedure as a “surgical abortion” in which “the patient’s cervix is dilated and suction is used to remove the fetus.”
Guttmacher reports that 11% of abortions in the U.S. take place after the first trimester and cites national estimates that suggest D&E accounts for roughly 95% of these procedures.
First time ban upheld
Wednesday’s decision marks the first time a U.S. federal court has upheld a prohibition on D&E. Three states – Texas, Alabama and Kentucky – currently have bans on the procedure, with exceptions for protecting the life or physical health of the mother, according to Guttmacher.
The appeals court overturned the three-judge panel ruling that held the statute “unduly burdens a woman’s constitutionally protected right” to terminate her pregnancy.
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