The Texas Supreme Court paved the way for the state’s abortion ban to take effect, blocking a lower court ruling that briefly allowed clinics in the state to perform the procedure.
The decision — in the wake of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade — came Friday, just days after a Houston judge allowed clinics to temporarily resume abortions up to six weeks into pregnancy.
State Attorney General Ken Paxton requested that the state’s highest court temporarily put the Houston’ judge’s order on hold.
On Saturday morning, Paxton, a Texas Republican, labeled the reversal a “pro-life victory!”
“Thanks to my appeal, SCOTX has slapped down the abortion providers and the district court carrying their water,” he said in a tweet. “Our state’s pre-Roe statutes banning abortion in Texas are 100% good law.
“Litigation continues, but I’ll keep winning for Texas’s unborn babies.”
It was not immediately clear if clinics in Texas that started up abortions earlier in the week would stop them again. A hearing is scheduled for July 12, according to the New York Times.
The US Supreme Court tossed out the landmark 1973 decision on June 24, paving the way for so-called “trigger laws” already on the books in various states to take effect. In Texas, a 1925 law that had outlawed abortions and punished those who performed them with possible prison time was triggered when Roe was overturned, Paxton said,