Texas clinics can temporarily resume abortions, state court rules

Texas abortion clinics can temporarily resume abortions up to six weeks of pregnancy, following a ruling from a state court blocking the enforcement of pre-Roe laws banning abortion.

The court granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday in response to a lawsuit filed June 27 by the Center for Reproductive Rights and other groups on behalf of several Texas abortion providers. Another hearing is set for July 12.

All Texas clinics stopped providing abortions on June 24 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 ruling in a case from Dallas County that established the constitutional right to an abortion.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an advisory shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling, stating that the trigger law on the books will go into effect 30 days after a judgment is issued overturning Roe vs. Wade.

A judgment is typically issued at least 25 days after the opinion, meaning the state’s trigger ban will likely not take effect for more than two months.