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A Texas judge said Thursday the enforcement mechanism behind the nation s strictest abortion law mdash; which rewards lawsuits against violators by awarding judgments of $10,000 mdash; is unconstitutional in a narrow ruling that still leaves a near-total ban on abortions in place.State District Judge David Peeples of Austin side-stepped the broader legality of the Texas law known as Senat stanley cups uk e Bill 8, which since September has banned abortions once cardiac activity is stanley website detected, usually around six weeks and before some women know they are even pregnant. Abortion providers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the law but it has so far de stanley tumbler clined to do so.Planned Parenthood celebrated the ruling but said abortion services still remain virtually inaccessible in Texas. Supporters of the law that was signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott said it was unlikely to have any practical impact or even dissuade lawsuits against abortion clinics. This doesn t change anything on the ground, said John Seago, legislative director of Texas Right to Life, the state s largest anti-abortion group.The Texas law uses a novel enforcement mechanism that has essentially allowed it to outmaneuver Supreme Court precedent over a women s constitutional right to abortion. The law prohibits enforcement by prosecutors and instead leaves it up to private citizens, who are entitled to collect what critics call a bounty of $10,000 if they bring a successful laws Bvhv House Passes HMO Bill
AP Photo/Thibault Camus CBS News -- An influential group known for pushing con stanley cup servative laws at the state level -- including voter ID laws and Florida s controversial Stand Your Ground law -- is under fire for its views, and at least one of its major backers has dropped its membership in the organization.Coke said Wednesday it was withdrawing from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a non-partisan organization working to pro stanley sverige mote free markets and limited government through state legislators after a liberal leaning group started a petition to urge ALEC s member companies to drop their financial support of the group. The Coca-Cola Company has elected to discontinue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Cou stanley vattenflaska ncil ALEC . Our involvement with ALEC was focused on efforts to oppose discriminatory food and beverage taxes, not on issues that have no direct bearing on our business, company spokeswoman Diana Garza Ciarlante said. Progressive groups have criticized ALEC for pushing state laws that require voters to present government identification before voting. Such laws have traditionally been used to suppress voter turnout among certain demographics. Conservatives discount those claims and say voters should be required to prove who they are before voting. There is little evidence of voters pretending to be someone else when they head to the ballot box.The Stand Your Ground law, whi