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US abortion: temporary block on Texas ban

A judge in the US state of Texas has issued an order blocking a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

The Biden administration has welcomed a judge's decision to block a near-total ban on abortion in the US state of Texas. The near total ban on abortions had been in place in the state for just over a month. Judge Robert Pitman, in Austin, Texas issued a temporary injunction to suspend the controversial law, which prohibits abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. The state authorities have lodged an appeal.

In a landmark decision last month, the conservative majority on the US Supreme Court agreed to let the restrictions stand, resulting in protests around the United States. The case is part of a fierce legal battle over abortion access in the United States.

Alina Salganicoff, Senior Vice President and Director of Women’s Health Policy of the Kaiser Family Foundation health policy think tank gave Newsday her reaction:

β€œIt means that people in Texas will be able to resume getting abortions. The current law has been in violation of the current standard in the United States. It’s very likely this will go back to the Supreme Court. The first time the court heard the appeal they let the law move forward, mostly on procedural grounds. But now there’s a record of harm meaning there are people who have been denied their constitutional right… and (health) providers who have been sued under the law.”

(Pic: Pro-abortion rights campaigners; Credit: Reuters)

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