WASHINGTON — Abortion providers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a Texas law that is set to take effect Wednesday and would outlaw the procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
The emergency filing sets up what could be a telling showdown at a conservative-controlled court that is already planning to hear a Mississippi appeal that seeks to overturn the core constitutional abortion right.
The Texas law, should it take effect, would be the strictest in the nation, barring abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected and authorizing private citizens to sue alleged violators. The law’s challengers say it would bar abortion for at least 85% of the state’s patients and force many clinics to close.
