(CBS News) In a ruling that seems destined for the U.S. Supreme Court, nearly all abortions in Texas must again be halted, the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday afternoon. The federal appeals court allowed the state to reinstate its ban on nearly all abortion services, including the procedure in Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order suspending all “non-essential” medical procedures.
Monday’s decision reverses both the court’s own previous ruling as well as a lower court’s decision that allowed medication abortion, a pregnancy termination method conducted by pill, to resume despite the state’s ban. The court offered one exception: patients who would be past the state’s legal limit by April 22, when the order is set to expire.