Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas abortion ban

Pro-choice demonstrators.
(Image credit: Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman on Wednesday temporarily blocked Texas' strict abortion ban, saying in his ruling that "this court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right."

Under the law, abortions cannot be performed in Texas after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is typically about six weeks into a pregnancy. Many women don't know they are pregnant at that point, and the law does not make any exceptions for cases of rape or incest. It is enforced by the public, with regular citizens encouraged to sue people who help women obtain abortions.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.