On Tuesday, a federal appeals court blocked a Texas abortion law that bans second-trimester “dismemberment abortions” unless doctors first perform a procedure to ensure fetal demise.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans sided with abortion rights activists in affirming a 2017 lower-court decision that held the law unconstitutional and temporarily barred its enforcement, saying that the law places an impermissible burden on women by forcing them to “endure a medically unnecessary and invasive additional procedure.” 

The abortion rule in question bars Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) abortions, sometimes known as “dismemberment abortion,” which typically take place in the second trimester, using forceps and other instruments to remove the fetus from the womb.
 
Texas is expected to appeal the decision, which would mean the case would go before the full 17-judge appellate court.

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