Abortion rights groups on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to take another look at blocking a Texas law that bans the procedure after six weeks of …
Abortion rights groups on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to take another look at blocking a Texas law that bans the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, though the request appeared unlikely to resolve the controversy quickly. A 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court declined to block the Texas law earlier this month in a ruling that did not reach whether the law is constitutional, prompting an outcry from abortion rights advocates who noted the ban conflicts with the court’s abortion precedents. The underlying questions raised by the case are still pending in lower courts. In an unusual appeal Thursday, the groups asked the Supreme Court to take their challenge before the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit resolves the case. The new appeal focuses on the law’s unusual enforcement mechanism and asks the high court to intercede given that the Texas law allows individuals to sue abortion providers rather than relying on state officials to enforce the ban.
