March 23, 2023      1:59 PM

Austin Federal Judge Lee Yeakel to retire in May

From Law.com:

U.S. District Judge Earl Leroy “Lee” Yeakel III of the Western District of Texas-Austin Division has given notice of his intent to retire after nearly 20 years of service. Yeakel, 78, informed President Joe Biden and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. that he intends to retire from the office on May 1.

Yeakel was nominated by President George W. Bush and was confirmed in less than three months by the Senate on July 28, 2003, receiving his commission the next day. Yeakel is known for his defenses of abortion rights. In 2013 he ruled that abortion restrictions enacted by the state were unconstitutional in the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Most of his orders in that case were overturned at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In 2014, Yeakel ruled that the state’s abortion restrictions imposed an undue burden upon women seeking pre-viability abortions. His rulings were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016.

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