US judge blocks enforcement of Texas’s near-total abortion ban
Al Jazeera
Women’s rights groups welcome decision but warn that it could be overturned by a conservative-controlled Supreme Court.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a near-total ban on abortion in Texas, the toughest such law in the United States, in a challenge brought by President Joe Biden’s administration after the US Supreme Court had allowed it to go into effect.
The action by US District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin on Wednesday prevents the state from enforcing the Republican-backed law, which prohibits women from obtaining an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, while litigation over its legality continues.
The case is part of a fierce legal battle over access to abortion in the US, with numerous states trying to enforce restrictions on the procedure.