Most abortions in Texas will be banned until at least early December, after a federal appeals court in New Orleans said Thursday it will keep a trial judge’s ruling blocking the law on ice until the issue is taken up in a related challenge.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments in the week of Dec. 6 in a challenge to the law brought by clinics and reproductive rights advocates.
In a split decision, the appeals panel denied a U.S. request to halt Texas’ law during the court challenge for the same reasons other judges on the court denied the clinics’ request.
Texas bans abortions after about the sixth week of pregnancy, before most women realize they’re pregnant.
Judges appointed by former Presidents Donald Trump and George W. Bush sided with Texas in the latest ruling while a Bill Clinton appointee dissented.
