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Paxton asks Texas Supreme Court to vacate Harris County's abortion-related restraining order

A Harris County judge issued the temporary restraining order on Tuesday.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court of Texas in an effort to vacate a temporary restraining order issued in Harris County that forbids enforcement of the state's pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban.

The restraining order, lasting until a July 12 hearing, came from a judge Tuesday following a lawsuit from abortion providers. With the order, providers cannot be prosecuted for conducting pre-six week abortions, an attorney representing the plaintiffs said.

   

Paxton said in a statement that providers can face punishment after the TRO is no longer in effect.

“The trial court was wrong to enjoin enforcement of Texas’s longstanding prohibitions on elective abortion,” Paxton said. “Let there be no mistake: the lower court’s unlawful order does not immunize criminal conduct, which can be punished at a later date once the temporary restraining order is lifted. My office will not hesitate to act in defense of unborn Texans put in jeopardy by plaintiffs’ wrongful actions and the trial court’s erroneous order.”

On Friday, June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion. Texas has a "trigger law," which bans abortion in the state, that is set to go into effect 30 days after an official judgment from the court.

Paxton closed his offices and made June 24 an annual holiday for his agency as a way to honor the babies he said have been lost to abortion.

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