Texas Abortion Providers Can Sue Over State Law, Can Not Stop Enforcement, Supreme Court Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Abortion providers in Texas can sue in connection with the state’s abortion law that criminalizes the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy when a heartbeat is detected, but can not stop the law's enforcement, the US Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

"A pre-enforcement challenge under the Federal Constitution to Texas Senate Bill 8 - the Texas Heartbeat Act - may proceed past the motion to dismiss stage against certain of the named defendants but not others; the order of the District Court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the case is remanded," the Supreme Court said.

The Supreme Court did not decide in the ruling whether the Texas law is unconstitutional. However, the court's decision will allow the case to be re-heard in lower courts, where the law may still be successfully challenged.

In addition, the Supreme Court's decision also narrows the number of possible defendants in future suits against the law.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a similar case against an abortion law in the state of Mississippi that bans the procedure starting at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the case.