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Biden government to ask Supreme Court to block Texas abortion ban

AFP

President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday said it would ask the Supreme Court to block a ban on most abortions in Texas, in the latest stage of a national battle over reproductive rights.

Last month, the US Supreme Court cited procedural issues when it decided by a 5-4 vote against intervening to block the highly restrictive Texas law.

It did not rule on the merits of the case brought by abortion providers.

Biden’s administration has vowed to fight the Texas ban, citing its interest in upholding Americans’ constitutional rights.

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At stake is the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which enshrined a woman’s legal right to an abortion.

Last week, US District Judge Robert Pitman, in response to a Justice Department lawsuit over the Texas law, issued a preliminary injunction halting its enforcement, calling it “flagrantly unconstitutional” and a violation of Roe v. Wade.

“This court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right,” Pitman said in a blistering decision.

Days later, in a complex legal wrangle, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals effectively reinstated the ban in Texas on most abortions once a heartbeat is detected in the womb.

On Thursday, the court confirmed the law would remain in place during ongoing proceedings.

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The whiplash and temporary nature of the rulings meant only a fraction of Texas’ abortion clinics had begun conducting the procedure again beyond what was allowed under the ban.

Anti-abortion groups cheered the reinstatement, even though the Biden administration was widely expected to appeal to the Supreme Court.

On Friday, a spokesman for the Justice Department confirmed it “intends to ask the Supreme Court to vacate the Fifth Circuit’s stay.”

The department is expected to formally file its appeal in the coming days.

The “Texas Heartbeat Act” allows members of the public to sue doctors who perform abortions, or anyone who helps facilitate them, once a heartbeat is detected in the womb — usually at around six weeks. 

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They can be rewarded with $10,000 for initiating cases that lead to prosecution, prompting charges that the law encourages people to act as vigilantes.

The law makes no exception for victims of rape or incest.

If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, every state would be free to ban or allow abortions.

The court’s next move will be watched closely, with its initial refusal to intervene seen as confirmation of the bench’s swing to the right following a series of appointments by former president Donald Trump.

The Texas law is part of a broader conservative drive to restrict abortions across the United States that has prompted a public backlash.

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Tens of thousands of women took to the streets in cities across the country earlier this month, asserting their reproductive rights.

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International

Migrants in Ciudad Juárez brave subzero temperatures with donations of warm clothing

Several jackets, gloves, hats, and scarves are helping migrants on the streets of Ciudad Juárez, a border town in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, to withstand the subzero temperatures recorded in the past days in northern Mexico.

“We wear three or four jackets to be able to walk like this, face masks, ear covers, we put on three or four sweatshirts,” said Jorge Peñalver, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, on Friday to AFP.

Northern Mexico is suffering from its second winter storm. Thermometers dropped to -3°C in Ciudad Juárez on Wednesday, where migrants are waiting to enter the United States legally.

In addition to the cold, there is the “uncertainty” ahead of the inauguration of the next U.S. president, Donald Trump, who has promised to use the military to carry out a mass deportation of migrants, added Carlos Mayorga, a pastor and volunteer with the group Ángeles Mensajeros. The organization provides clothing, food, and coffee to migrants, mostly from Venezuela and Central America, where they are “not used to” freezing temperatures.

“Thank God the people here in Ciudad Juárez see us working and give us coats,” added Peñalver, who cleans windshields and car windows.

The National Weather Service predicted that subzero temperatures will continue in northern Mexico, reaching -15°C in mountainous areas of Chihuahua and Durango states.

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International

Álvaro Uribe calls for international military intervention to oust Maduro

Former President Álvaro Uribe, one of the most popular politicians in Colombia, called on Saturday for an international military intervention in Venezuela “to oust” Nicolás Maduro from power following his controversial swearing-in for a third consecutive term on Friday.

“Let that fraud know that what we advocate for is an international military intervention with the Venezuelan army to remove the dictatorship,” said the right-wing former president from the Colombian side of the border in Cúcuta.

In front of dozens of people on the streets of the city, Uribe led his announced “protest for the freedom of Colombia and Venezuela,” in support of Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado, the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition.

“We are calling for an international intervention, preferably endorsed by the United Nations, to remove those tyrants from power and immediately call for free elections,” he insisted amid applause.

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International

Venezuela’s Interior Ministry confirms arrest of María Corina Machado’s driver

Venezuela’s Ministry of the Interior confirmed on Monday the arrest of the motorcyclist who transported María Corina Machado after the opposition protest last Thursday, and stated that he will be charged with the alleged crimes of conspiracy and simulating a criminal act.

As Machado had reported, the motorcyclist, identified as Roalmi Alberto Cabeza, was arrested after being shot in the leg, a claim that the Ministry denies, asserting that he was apprehended at a well-known hotel in Caracas “without injuries,” and that the charge of simulation will be pressed against him.

In a statement shared on Instagram, the Ministry stated that, in response to Machado’s “serious accusations,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office and state security agencies conducted “a thorough investigation to clarify the events.”

The Ministry explained in the statement that Cabeza stated, at the time of his arrest at the hotel, that he was “under protection by Machado’s order.”

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