Texas abortion groups file last-ditch suit to hold off ban for a bit longer

A patient returns for an appointment at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services in San Antonio on Friday to make sure her abortion treatment was successful. Abortion providers are suing the state to block old statutes criminalizing the procedure, in the hopes of resuming abortions in Texas for a while longer. (Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune)

Texas abortion providers are making a last-ditch effort to temporarily resume procedures by challenging a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban that has not been enforced for nearly a half-century, but that some abortion opponents argue could be enforced after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.

The providers filed a lawsuit on Monday, and a Harris County judge will hear arguments on Tuesday for implementing a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the old ban, which criminalized both performing abortions and assisting anyone who performs abortions in Texas.