Biden blasts court’s failure to block ban

President WASHINGTON —

Joe Biden on Thursday lambasted the Supreme Court’s decision not to block a new Texas law ban- ning most abortions in the state and directed federal agencies to do what they can to “insulate women and providers” from the impact.

Hours earlier, in the mid- dle of the night, a deeply divided high court allowed the law to remain in force in the nation’s biggest abor- tion curb since the court legalized the operation nationwide a half-cen- tury ago.

The court voted 5-4 to deny an emergency appeal from abortion providers and others but also suggested that their order likely wasn’t the last word and other challenges can be brought.

Biden said his administration will launch a “whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision” and look at “what steps the federal government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe.”

He said women should be protected from “the impact of Texas’ bizarre scheme of outsourced enforcement to private parties.”

Biden, who has come under pressure from Democrats to expand the size of the Supreme Court, has ordered a review of the court due next month.

The Texas law, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May, prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks and before many women know they’re pregnant.

It is the strictest law against abortion rights in the United States since the high court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 and part of a broader push by Republicans nationwide to impose new restrictions on abortion. At least 12 other states have enacted bans early in pregnancy, but all have been blocked from going into effect.