Judge questions Texas abortion ban's controversial enforcement mechanism
CNN
A federal judge Friday questioned the controversial enforcement mechanism of Texas' six-week abortion ban and asked whether the law made private citizens "a proxy for the state to insulate the state from the sort of judicial oversight that would exist."
US District Judge Robert Pitman is holding a hearing Friday to consider the Justice Department's request, in its lawsuit challenging the abortion ban, for a preliminary injunction blocking the law. The law's design has stymied previous attempts by clinics to block it.
"My obvious question to you," Pitman asked Texas' attorney Friday, "if the state is so confident in the constitutionality of the limitations on women's access to abortion, why did it go to great lengths to create this unusual cause of action rather than doing it directly?"
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