The Texas ‘heartbeat’ bill banning abortion after six weeks of gestation has been reinstated after a federal appeals court suspended a lower court ruling banning the law.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled in favor of Texas and halted U.S. Judge Robert Pitman’s restriction on the abortion ban. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed Pitman’s decision, according to Fox News.
Paxton took to Twitter to celebrate the news, writing, “Great news tonight, The Fifth Circuit has granted an administrative stay on Senate Bill 8. I will fight federal overreach at every turn.”
Initially, Texas’ Republican governor Greg Abbott signed SB 8 into law in May but was not legally enforced until Sept. 1.
The law places a ban on all abortions after six weeks of gestation when a fetal heartbeat is detectable and allows Texans to sue abortion providers, clinics, and third parties involved in the incriminating act.
The law, however, does permit abortions in rare cases of medical emergencies.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to take on a challenge to a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in the upcoming months. The Mississippi case is considered a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.
