Texas renews court effort to ban abortion procedure

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Texas officials are trying to get a federal appeals court’s permission to enforce a ban on a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure, even though the court has not yet ruled on its constitutionality.

The 2017 law bans a procedure in which forceps and other instruments are used to remove the fetus from the womb.

A federal judge in Texas struck down the ban in 2017. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in late 2018 but has yet to rule.

Texas officials want the full 17-member court to hear arguments on whether enforcement of the ban should be allowed pending a final appellate court decision.