Federal judge refuses to grant restraining order to keep El Paso abortion clinic open
A federal judge refused to grant a temporary restraining order against a portion of the state’s new abortion law Wednesday that would allow an El Paso abortion clinic to remain open.
Reproductive Services in El Paso had temporary admitting privileges through a local hospital that were set to expire in May, but received a letter from the Department of State Health Services saying they were not in compliance with that portion of the law. When clinic officials called the hospital that granted the privileges Friday, they were informed that the privileges were no longer in effect.
The clinic stopped providing abortions immediately and canceled future appointments.
Reproductive Services in El Paso and Whole Woman’s Health McAllen were named in a lawsuit filed earlier this month challenging the admitting privileges requirement as it relates to the two clinics. The Center for Reproductive Services, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the clinics, claimed they are among the last abortion providers in West Texas and the Valley.
There is one other abortion clinic in El Paso, and a clinic 12 miles away across the border in New Mexico.
While District Judge Lee Yeakel said he believed the plaintiffs proved that the clinic in El Paso and women seeking services there would be burdened by its closing, he could not grant the temporary restraining order because the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals disagrees, making the likelihood of the plaintiffs’ success in this case, a requirement for temporary relief, unlikely.
The 5th Circuit issued an opinion in March upholding Texas’ admitting privileges requirement in response to a separate lawsuit.
“All challenges must be viewed through the prism of the 5th Circuit’s overall view of the law as expressed at the present time,” Yeakel said.
The suit also seeks a court order to halt the requirement that all abortion facilities meet the same structural standards as ambulatory surgical centers beginning in September. In an effort to save time, Yeakel said he wished to hear the admitting privileges portion of the lawsuit at the same time as the surgical center portion.
Yeakel said he believes the entire lawsuit will ultimately be appealed to the Supreme Court.