Texas officials swiftly told the federal judge who suspended the law they will seek a reversal. Here are some questions and answers about what’s next and the impact so far.
AUSTIN, Texas — Even though a federal judge ordered Texas state officials Wednesday to suspend enforcement of a new law banning most abortions, that doesn’t mean abortion services in Texas will immediately resume. That’s because doctors still fear that they could be sued without a more permanent legal decision. The new law — which is the strictest abortion law in the nation — says abortions in Texas are prohibited once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity. That’s typically around six weeks, before some women even know they’re pregnant. Enforcement is left up to private citizens, who are deputized to file lawsuits against abortion providers and others who help a woman get an abortion in Texas. For the month after it took effect until U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, granted the Biden administration a temporary hold on the law, it already was having an impact on clinics and patients. Texas officials swiftly told the judge they will seek a reversal. Here are some questions and answers about what’s next and the impact so far: Abortion providers say the ramifications have been punishing and “exactly what we feared.” More than 100 pages of court filings in September offered the most comprehensive glimpse at how the near-total ban on abortion in Texas has played out. Doctors and executives at Texas’ nearly two dozen abortion clinics described turning away hundreds of patients, and some who showed up for appointments could not proceed because cardiac activity had been detected.
