Listen Live: Supreme Court hears arguments in fast-tracked Texas abortion ban cases

Washington — The Supreme Court will convene Monday to hear oral arguments in a pair of cases challenging a Texas law that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, kicking off a consequential month for the high court that culminates with a case that abortion advocates warn is the biggest threat to reproductive rights in decades.

The high court will hear arguments in the disputes — one brought by the Justice Department and a second from abortion providers in Texas — just 10 days after agreeing to jump into the ongoing legal battle over the law, compressing a process that typically spans months into a matter of days. It's unclear whether the justices will issue a decision with the same speed, and the law, the nation's most restrictive, remains in effect while the proceedings play out.

The Texas measure at issue in the disputes prohibits abortions after embryonic cardiac activity is detected, usually at about six weeks and often before a woman is aware she is pregnant. But the justices will not be deciding the law's constitutionality, although the Justice Department and abortion providers argue the ban conflicts with its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.