Lorie Shaull via Whole Women's Health
Clinics resumed offering the procedure Wednesday, and the Texas Attorney General's Office said in a legal filing there was no legal basis for upholding the controversial ban announced last month by Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Tribune reports.
Abortion providers and Texas officials were locked in a back-and-forth legal battle over the legality of the order, which amounted to an almost total ban on the constitutionally protected procedure. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas, but providers subsequently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
A new order from Abbott took effect Wednesday, clearing healthcare providers to offer additional procedures, so long as they reserve beds for COVID-19 patients and avoid ordering protective gear from public sources.
Abortion providers said they meet those criteria, and state attorneys didn't dispute that argument in their filing.
"Finally, women in Texas can get the time-sensitive abortion care that they are constitutionally guaranteed. Women never should have had to go to court to get essential health care," Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights said in a statement.
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