Genetic screenings can help determine if a fetus will have certain conditions — or even be viable. But those usually occur at the end of the first trimester, long after Texas’ new abortion law bans people from terminating their pregnancies.
Texas Abortion Restrictions
Abortions in Texas ceased following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that eliminated the constitutional protection for an abortion. Texans who want to access abortion at any stage of pregnancy will have to travel out of state, look beyond the U.S.-Mexico border or operate outside of the law, while others will carry unwanted pregnancies to term. Birth control and emergency contraceptives, commonly referred to as Plan B, are different from the drugs used to induce an abortion and remain legal.
U.S. Supreme Court will consider Texas’ near-total abortion ban on an expedited timeline. The law remains in effect for now.
The high court agreed to hear the arguments quickly but declined to immediately block enforcement of the new law.
Texas urges U.S. Supreme Court to allow near-total abortion ban to stand as Biden administration lawsuit unfolds
The U.S. Department of Justice asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in on the ongoing case, but Texas argues that the federal government lacks the standing necessary to overturn the law.
U.S. Supreme Court considers taking up abortion providers’ challenge to Texas’ near-total ban on the procedure
Providers want the Supreme Court to take the case before an appeals court hears it. The high court gave defendants, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, until Thursday to respond to the providers’ request.
Biden administration to ask Supreme Court to stop enforcement of Texas’ near-total abortion ban
Court decisions have gone back and forth on the law’s enforceability over several weeks.
Texas’ near-total abortion ban will remain in effect as federal appeals court agrees to hear legal challenge
Senate Bill 8 barred abortions as early as six weeks, before many people know they are pregnant. It is the strictest abortion ban in the nation.
Analysis: Intentional loopholes in Texas abortion law draw a judge’s rebuke
The judge who blocked enforcement of the new abortion restrictions in Texas said lawmakers knew it was unconstitutional and tried to prevent federal courts from saying so — and said he wanted to keep other states from copying the idea.
Appeals court allows Texas abortion law to resume, stopping federal judge’s order to block its enforcement
Because of the way the law is written, it appears that clinics and doctors who performed abortions outlawed by the statute even while the block was in effect would now be vulnerable to lawsuits.
At least one major Texas abortion provider resumes procedure lawmakers tried to prohibit, after judge blocks near-total ban
The ruling late Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman doesn’t protect providers who perform abortions while the Texas law makes its way through the courts.
Texas’ near-total abortion ban is temporarily blocked by a federal judge, spurring the state to quickly appeal
It wasn’t immediately clear how the temporary order may affect access to abortions in the state. The law is constructed in a way that people who violate it could be liable to litigation if enforcement is reinstated.

