Texas calls on Supreme Court to keep abortion ban in place

Washington — Texas state officials on Thursday encouraged the Supreme Court to leave untouched a state law that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, arguing the justices should reject a request from the Biden administration to block enforcement of the measure.

In a filing with the Supreme Court, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other top officials said the Justice Department does not have a legal right to sue the state in federal court because it has not been injured by the abortion law, which prohibits the procedure after embryonic cardiac activity is detected, usually at about six weeks and often before a woman knows she is pregnant.

The federal government, Texas told the high court, "is not adverse to Texas merely because it thinks a Texas law is unconstitutional."