U.S. Supreme Court Does Not Block Texas Abortion Law and Sets Hearing Date

The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined for the second time to block the Texas heartbeat bill, but agreed to hear arguments on the Texas law on November 1st. The court will not decide the merits of the law, but will consider whether the federal government has the right to sue Texas to block the law. Last month, the Department of Justice brought suit, seeking to block state officials and private individuals from implementing or enforcing the law. The Texas law requires doctors to check for a fetal heartbeat before performing an abortion and prohibits most abortions if a heartbeat is found, which usually occurs around six weeks.