The law, which came into effect on September 1, 2021, prohibits abortions once heart activity is detected, which typically happens about six weeks before some women know they are pregnant.
A federal judge ordered Texas to suspend the most restrictive abortion law in the United States, calling it an "offensive deprivation" of a constitutional right, banning most abortions in the second most populous state of the country since September.
The order issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman is the first legal blow to Texas law known as Senate Bill 8, which has so far withstood a wave of initial challenges.
In the weeks after the restrictions took effect, abortion providers in Texas said the impact was "exactly what we feared."
In a 113-page opinion, Mr. Pitman accused Texas of the law, saying Republican lawmakers had "designed an unprecedented and transparent legal regime" leaving enforcement only in the hands of private citizens, who have the right to collect $ 10,000 in damages if they successfully sue abortion providers who violate the restrictions.
The law, signed by Gov.Greg Abbott in May bans miscarriages once heart activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks before some women know they are pregnant.
"From the time SB 8 came into force, women have been illegitimately prevented from exercising control over their lives in a constitutionally protected manner," wrote Pitman, who was appointed to the post by former President Barack Obama
"It is for them to decide whether other courts can find a way to avoid this conclusion; this Court will not one more day sanction this offensive deprivation of such an important right."
But even with the law pending, abortion services in Texas might not immediately resume because doctors still fear prosecution without a more permanent legal decision. Planned Parenthood said it was confident the order would allow clinics to resume abortion services as soon as possible
Texas officials quickly communicated to the court their intention to seek a reversal of 5th US. Circuit Court of Appeal, which previously allowed restrictions to come into effect.
United States Abortion Act
The Texas law is just the one that has set the biggest test of abortion rights in the United States in decades and is part of a larger campaign by Republicans across the national government to impose new restrictions on abortion.
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court began a new term, which in December will include arguments in Mississippi's attempt to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade of 1973 guaranteeing a woman's right to abortion.
Last month, the court did not rule on the constitutionality of Texas law to allow it to remain in force. But abortion service providers took the 54-vote as a worrying signal about the direction the abortion court could take after its Tory majority was bolstered by three appointed by former President Donald Trump.
Texas officials have argued in court documents that even if the law were temporarily suspended, providers could still face the threat of litigation for violations that could arise in the period between a permanent conviction.
At least one abortion provider in Texas has admitted to breaking the law and has been sued, but not by abortion opponents. Former Illinois and Arkansas lawyers say they're suing a San Antonio doctor in hopes a judge will strike down the law