Texas abortion ban halted by federal judge

A FEDERAL judge has temporarily blocked a draconian Texas abortion law, calling it an “offensive deprivation” of women’s rights.

The ruling theoretically restores access to terminations in America’s second most populous state after procedures largely ground to a halt on Sept 1.

The legislation, known as SB8 (Senate Bill 8), barred women from having an abortion if they were more than six weeks into their pregnancy and made no exceptions for rape or incest.

Judge Robert Pitman said in his ruling: “This court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right.”

Several Texas clinics have vowed to resume abortion services, but providers still face a significant legal risk.

The law empowers Americans to sue abortion providers and doctors, by offering them a $10,000 (£7,360) reward and the recovery of legal fees for a successful prosecution.

It also allows for abortion providers to be retroactively sued if the ban is reversed.

Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney general, immediately objected to the temporary ban, sending the case to the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative courts in the country.

Some Texas-based abortion providers indicated they were willing to risk future legal action to resume services, but others expressed a note of caution.

Whole Woman’s Health, a group that operates four clinics in the state, said it was working “to resume abortion care … as soon as possible” but was unsure when that would be.

Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, said the ruling was “a victory for women in Texas and for the

‘This court will not sanction one more day of this deprivation of rights’

rule of law”. Mr Garland’s Justice Department had filed the emergency motion for a temporary ban to SB8 while a legal challenge proceeds through the courts.

Laws restricting abortion have been passed in other Republican-led states but have been struck down by judges because they violate the outcome of the 1973 Roe v Wade court case.

It guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion until the foetus is viable outside the womb, which is typically about 22 to 24 weeks.