US judge temporarily blocks restrictive Texas abortion law
Protestors gather at the Rally for Abortion Justice in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2021, to condemn Texas' new restrictive law which bans abortions after six weeks of becoming pregnant.
A US federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a controversial law that bans most abortions in the state of Texas.
The statue, which went into force on September 1, prohibits abortions as soon as an embryo's heartbeat is detectable, usually at around six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant. There are no exceptions for cases of incest or rape.
"This Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right," Judge Robert Pitman wrote in the ruling.
The suit had been brought by President Joe Biden's administration, which argues that the ban is unconstitutional.
In recent years, similar laws have been passed in other states but were struck down because they violated US Supreme Court precedent from Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that guaranteed a woman's right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, at around 22 weeks of pregnancy.
The Texas law, which thus far is the most restrictive in the country, is unique in that it empowers anyone to file lawsuits against a person who has assisted in an abortion.
