Judge James Wesley Hendrix
North Texas U.S. District Court
James Wesley Hendrix was born in 1977. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law. He clerked at the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, then entered private practice.
He served 12 years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, was an ex-officio member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, and also chaired the Appellate Chiefs Working Group for two years. He became the Appellate Division Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
He was nominated by President Donald Trump to be a judge on the North Texas United States District Court. After confirmation by the Senate, he assumed his position in 2019.
In the News…
In a 67-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix blocked guidance issued by President Biden’s administration that requires doctors to provide abortions in emergency medical situations even if doing so would run afoul of state law. The guidance was issued in July by the Department of Health and Human Services in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The practical effect of the ruling was to halt HHS from enforcing its guidance in Texas, stopping short of a nationwide injunction. Judge Hendrix also blocked the administration from applying its regulation against two co-plaintiffs in the case, a pair of pro-life doctors’ associations.
The judge’s ruling runs counter to the administration’s request for the court to find that a 1986 federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) superseded some restrictive state abortion laws passed in the wake of Roe’s demise.
EMTALA requires a hospital to provide stabilizing care to any patient that presents with an emergency medical condition. HHS says abortion qualifies as stabilizing care under the law.
Judge Hendrix ruled that the HHS guidance exceeded the authority that Congress granted to the agency through EMTALA.
“That Guidance goes well beyond EMTALA’s text, which protects both mothers and unborn children, is silent as to abortion, and preempts state law only when the two directly conflict,” Judge Hendrix wrote.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Hendrix today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable James Wesley Hendrix
U.S. District Court for the North District of Texas
1205 Texas Avenue
Lubbock, TX 79401
