Newly signed law in Texas restricts abortion-inducing drugs

LUBBOCK, Texas, September 24 (Reuters) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a new law on Friday that restricts access to abortion-inducing drugs, just weeks after the state implemented a ban almost total abortion procedures.

The Medicines Act prohibits the mail-order sale of abortion-inducing drugs and states that state doctors are only allowed to prescribe them up to seven weeks after conception. Previously, this restriction was set at 10 weeks.

“Texas continues to lead the way in protecting unborn children and promoting a culture of life,” Abbott said in a written statement. “We have taken monumental steps to save babies from the ravages of abortion.”

Texas is at the center of the abortion debate in the United States, enacting the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws in recent legislative sessions.

On September 1, a new Texas law took effect that prohibits the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected – which is around six weeks in most cases. Abortion rights groups claim that 85% to 90% of all abortions are performed after six weeks.

Texas is among a dozen mostly Republican-led states that have enacted “heartbeat” abortion bans that ban the procedure once rhythmic contraction of fetal heart tissue can be detected. – which is sometimes before a woman realizes she is pregnant. Courts have blocked such prohibitions.

But Texas law allows private citizens anywhere to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps a woman get one. This prevented the law from being immediately blocked, as it was more difficult to sue the government directly.

Abortion providers in Texas on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene urgently in their challenge to a state law imposing a near-total ban on abortion. L1N2QP2KJ

Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Editing by Sam Holmes

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