Biden administration to ask top court to block Texas abortion law

US Justice Department says it will ask US Supreme Court to block contentious law that bans abortions after six weeks.

The Biden administration will ask the US Supreme Court to block a Texas law that outlaws most abortions, the Justice Department has said, as the legal battle over abortion rights in the United States escalates.

A US Justice Department spokesperson said on Friday that the administration would ask the top US court to “vacate” a recent appeals court ruling that upheld the Texas law, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The Justice Department had sued Texas over the legislation, known as SB8, and last week a district judge blocked the ban, but the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it two days later.