Texas abortion providers ask supreme court to halt unprecedented abortion law

Texas abortion providers are asking the US supreme court to block a near-total abortion ban that allows any individual the right to sue an abortion provider who violates the extreme law, a final effort to stop the unprecedented measure from taking effect on Wednesday.

Signed into law by the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, in May, Senate bill 8 bars abortion once embryonic cardiac activity is detected – typically around six weeks – and offers no exceptions for rape or incest.

The appeal to the nation’s high court comes after the largely conservative fifth circuit...