Judge will rule soon on abortion regulations

Law limiting secondtrimester procedure to go into effect Friday.

After a two-hour hearing in Austin’s federal courthouse Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel promised to rule soon on whether or not to block Texas regulations limiting second-trimester abortions.

The law, passed by the Legislature in May, takes effect Friday — a fact Yeakel acknowledged.

“We will have a ruling out quickly in this case,” he said.

Abortion providers are seeking a temporary restraining order blocking Texas from enforcing the law. If granted, the order would be good for 14 days, with one 14-day extension available.

Whether Yeakel blocks the law or not, he said he will conduct a trial — likely in September — on a request by abortion providers to toss out the regulation. But after lawyers for both sides argued Tuesday about what information, documents and depositions had to be provided before trial, Yeakel expressed skepticism — and frustration — about the future of the case.

“You can’t agree on the most simple things,” the judge said.

The legal challenge seeks to void a provision in Senate Bill 8 that bans what abortion opponents call dismemberment abortions, which isn’t a medical term. Abortion providers say the law would outlaw the safest and most commonly used method of second-tri-

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