AUSTIN, Texas (AP) 鈥� Abortions quickly resumed in at least six Texas clinics on Thursday after a the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S., but other physicians remained hesitant, afraid the court order would not stand for long and thrust them back into legal jeopardy.
It was unclear how many abortions Texas clinics rushed to perform in the 24 hours after U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman suspended the law known as Senate Bill 8, which since early September had banned abortions , usually around six weeks.
Prior to late Wednesday, other courts had declined to stop the law, which bans abortions .
鈥淭here鈥檚 actually hope from patients and from staff, and I think there鈥檚 a little desperation in that hope,鈥� said Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman's Health, which operates four clinics in Texas. She said some of those clinics performed abortions Thursday but did not reveal how many.
鈥淔olks know this opportunity could be short-lived," she said.
By all accounts, the ruling did not usher in a fast return to normal in Texas.
At least six Texas clinics resumed abortion services Thursday or were gearing up to offer them again, said Kelly Krause, spokeswoman for the Center for Reproductive Rights. There were roughly two dozen abortion clinics in Texas before the law took effect Sept. 1.
Planned Parenthood, the state's largest abortion provider, did not say Thursday whether it had resumed abortions, stressing the ongoing uncertainty and the possibility of an appeals court quickly reinstating the law in the coming days. Fund Choice Texas, which covers travel expenses for women seeking abortions, was still receiving a high volume of calls Thursday from patients needing help to make out-of-state appointments.
The 20 calls were about the normal volume over the past month, executive director Anna Rupani said. She said her organization 鈥� which has helped Texas women travel as far away as Seattle and Los Angeles 鈥� was still discussing whether it would help a patient get an abortion in Texas even with a court injunction in place.
The Texas law leaves enforcement solely up to private citizens, who are entitled to collect $10,000 in damages if they bring successful lawsuits against not just abortion providers who violate the restrictions, but anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion. Republicans crafted the law in a way designed to also allow retroactive lawsuits if the restrictions are set aside by one court, but later put back in place by another.
鈥淲hat's really frustrating ... is this law was drafted to create confusion, and this law was drafted to create problems," Rupani said. 鈥淚t's unfortunate that we have an injunction, and people are still having to understand the legal ramifications of what that means for them."
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton鈥檚 office has served notice of the state鈥檚 intent to appeal but had yet to do so Thursday.
鈥淲e are confident that the appellate courts will agree that every child with a heartbeat should have a chance at life," said Renae Eze, a spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, .
Hagstrom Miller said her Texas clinics called in some patients early Thursday who were on a list in case the law was blocked at some point. Other appointments were 小蓝视频 scheduled for the days ahead, and phone lines were again busy. But some of the clinics' 17 physicians were still declining to perform abortions, fearful they might be held liable despite the judge鈥檚 order.
Pitman's order amounted to the first legal blow to which had withstood a wave of earlier challenges. In the weeks since the restrictions took effect, Texas abortion providers said the impact had been
In the opinion, Pitman took Texas to task, saying Republican lawmakers had 鈥渃ontrived an unprecedented and transparent statutory scheme鈥� by trying to evade judicial review.
鈥淔rom the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution,鈥� wrote Pitman, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama.
鈥淭hat other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide; this Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right."
The , which has said the restrictions were enacted in defiance of the U.S. Constitution. Attorney General Merrick Garland called the order 鈥渁 victory for women in Texas and for the rule of law.鈥�
Abortion providers say their fears have become reality in the short time the law has been in effect. Planned Parenthood says the from Texas at its clinics in the state decreased by nearly 80% in the two weeks after the law took effect.
Some providers have said Texas clinics are now in danger of closing while neighboring states struggle to keep up with a who must drive hundreds of miles for an abortion. Other women, they say, are 小蓝视频 forced to carry pregnancies to term.
How many abortions have been performed in Texas since the law took effect is unknown. additional reporting requirements under the law will not make September data available on its website until early next year.
Other states, mostly in the 小蓝视频, have passed similar laws that ban abortion within the early weeks of pregnancy, all of which judges have blocked. A 1992 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court prevented states from banning abortion before viability, the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb, around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
But Texas鈥� version had so far outmaneuvered the courts because it leaves enforcement to private citizens to file suits, not prosecutors, which critics say amounts to a bounty.
The Texas law is just one that has set up the biggest test of abortion rights in the U.S. in decades, and it is part of a broader push by Republicans nationwide to impose new restrictions on abortion.
On Monday, the began a new term, which in December will include arguments 1973鈥檚 landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a woman鈥檚 right to an abortion.
Last month, the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the Texas law in allowing it to remain in place. But abortion providers took that 5-4 vote as an ominous sign about where the court might be heading on abortion after its conservative majority was fortified with three appointees of former President Donald Trump.
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Stengle contributed from Dallas.
Paul J. Weber And Jamie Stengle, The Associated Press
