Texas AG office blocks order allowing abortions for women with complicated pregnancies: report

The Texas attorney general's office has filed an appeal against Judge Jessica Mangrum's temporary exemption issued Friday, August 4 that would permit women with complicated pregnancies to have abortions, The Washington Post reports.

Per The Post, the appeal filed hours after Mangrum's ruling blocks "the exemption from taking effect" against "one of the country's most restrictive laws on the procedure, banning it at six weeks."

Mangrum's exemption would have also kept "doctors free from prosecution if they determined the fetus will not survive after birth," according to The Texas Tribune.

READ MORE: Judge's order permits Texas women with complicated pregnancies to get abortions

"Texas pro-life laws are in full effect," the attorney general's office wrote in a statement. "This judge's ruling is not."

The Post reports:

Lawyers for the state of Texas had asked Mangrum to dismiss the case, claiming doctors who had misapplied the law were to blame for the women's experiences. And Saturday, after issuing the appeal, the state's Office of the Attorney General emphasized that 'while a district judge's ruling attempted to block the state's enforcement of Texas pro-life laws, this filing stays the ruling pending a decision by the Texas Supreme Court.'

According to The Texas Tribune, Magnum wrote in her ruling "that Senate Bill 8, the law restricting abortion access, was unconstitutional," and "enforcement of the abortion ban was beyond the legal powers of Texas officials tasked with prosecuting physicians under this law."

READ MORE: 'I nearly died': Texas woman confronts Ted Cruz and John Cornyn for anti-abortion policies

The Washington Post's full report is available at this link (subscription required).