Abortion providers appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in last-ditch effort to block new Texas law banning the procedure as early as six weeks

[Draggingtree]

Texas Tribune

Abortion providers appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in last-ditch effort to block new Texas law banning the procedure as early as six weeks

The law, which is one of the most restrictive in the country, is scheduled to go into effect Wednesday.

BY REESE OXNER AUG. 30, 2021

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Texas abortion providers made a last-minute plea to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn the state’s new abortion restrictions law, which is set to come into effect Wednesday and would ban the procedure as early as six weeks of pregnancy — a period when many women are unaware that they are pregnant.

Providers and abortion advocacy groups say this would affect at least 85% of the abortions taking place in the state. The law would allow members of the general public to sue those who might have violated the restrictions, which providers call a bounty hunting scheme. In the Supreme Court emergency filing, attorneys for providers said the law would likely close clinics across the state and “immediately and catastrophically reduce abortion access in Texas.”

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday denied a request to block the bill.