Abortion illegal in Texas again: Texas Supreme Court blocks order that allowed abortions to resume

The Texas Supreme Court late Friday blocked a lower court order issued days earlier that allowed abortions to resume in the state on a temporary basis, the latest twist in the ongoing legal battle over abortion rights in Texas.

Justices partially granted an emergency motion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and said the state's nearly century-old abortion ban can be enforced in civil court, making it illegal to perform abortions in Texas once again.

The decision is a major setback for providers and people seeking abortions, who have been left with limited options in the wake of last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision ending federal constitutional protections for abortion.

After the federal court ruling, Paxton said prosecutors in Texas could enforce a 1925 state law criminalizing doctors who perform nearly all abortions. But abortion providers sued, arguing that the law would have been repealed in 1973 when the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade.

A district judge in Harris County sided with providers on Tuesday and temporarily blocked enforcement of the measure — allowing some clinics to resume abortion services for the time being.

This latest court battle is not about whether abortion should be permitted in Texas in the long term, but rather whether providers can continue offering abortion services until the state's so-called trigger law banning abortions goes into effect.

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The law, adopted last year, is set to take effect 30 days after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a judgment overturning Roe v. Wade, a legal document that can take months to produce after an opinion has been issued.

“Texas’s trigger ban is not scheduled to take effect for another two months, if not longer," Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. "This law from nearly 100 years ago is banning essential health care prematurely, despite clearly being long repealed.”

Friday's order from the Texas Supreme Court does not allow for criminal enforcement of the 1925 law but does permit enforcement in civil court.

Paxton celebrated the decision, writing on Twitter: "Thanks to my appeal, SCOTX has slapped down the abortion providers and the district court carrying their water. Our state’s pre-Roe statutes banning abortion in Texas are 100% good law. Litigation continues, but I’ll keep winning for Texas’s unborn babies."

Texas already bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, under Senate Bill 8. The law does not include exceptions for victims of rape or incest and leaves enforcement up to private individuals, who are authorized to sue anyone who helps facilitate an illegal abortion.

Providers largely stopped offering abortion services after Roe v. Wade was overturned last week, because of legal uncertainty. Some started offering abortions late this week, after the lower court's ruling blocking the 1925 law.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Supreme Court blocks order allowing abortions to resume