Paul, Weiss Submits Amicus Brief in Texas Abortion Case

Paul, Weiss and co-counsel submitted an amicus curiae brief on behalf of 12 international and comparative law scholars in support of the Center for Reproductive Rights’ lawsuit challenging Texas’s omnibus abortion bill, Senate Bill 8 (SB8). The brief, submitted by the firm and Martha Davis, a professor at the Northeastern University School of Law and a women’s rights authority, urges the Fifth Circuit to affirm a lower court ruling that the bill is unconstitutional.  SB8 prohibited the safest, most common method of abortion in the early second trimester of pregnancy, which is also the most common method of abortion after approximately 15 weeks. In November 2017, a federal district judge ruled that SB8 was  unconstitutional and permanently enjoined defendants from enforcing it. The State appealed.

Our brief underscores the State of Texas’s reliance on the opinion of a bioethics professor who inaccurately claimed that most countries ban second-trimester abortions. The brief rebuts this faulty assertion, demonstrating that proper comparative analysis and consideration of international law both support expanded abortion access.

The Paul, Weiss team included litigation partner Jane O’Brien and associates Michelle Kallen, Crystal Johnson, William Freeland and Melissa Alpert.