Texas’ new abortion law, regarded as the strictest in the nation, has been in effect for a week, and Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that President Biden’s Justice Department is challenging it legally.

What You Need To Know

  • Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday announced the U.S. Justice Department has sued Texas over its new law that prohibits abortion once cardiac activity can be detected, which in many pregnancies is as soon as six weeks 

  • The lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court, asks a judge to declare the law invalid

  • Garland argued that the law was enacted  “in open defiance of the Constitution”

  • The U.S. Supreme Court last week voted 5-4 to deny an emergency appeal from abortion providers, permitting the law to take effect 

Stating that Texas’ new law bans nearly all abortions and that it is “clearly unconstitutional,” Garland said the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit will the goal of nullifying the law.

"The law has had its intended effect … because the statute makes it too risky for an abortion clinic to stay open, abortion providers have ceased providing services. This leaves women in Texas unable to exercise their constitutional rights,” Garland said.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Texas, asks a federal judge to declare that the law is invalid, “to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that Texas has violated," Garland said. 

Responding to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the following: 

"The most precious freedom is life itself. Texas passed a law that ensures that the life of every child with a heartbeat will be spared from the ravages of abortion. Unfortunately, President Biden and his Administration are more interested in changing the national narrative from their disastrous Afghanistan evacuation and reckless open border policies instead of protecting the innocent unborn. We are confident that the courts will uphold and protect that right to life." 

Pressure had been mounting on the Justice Department not only from the White House – President Joe Biden has said the law is “almost un-American” – but also from Democrats in Congress, who wanted Garland to take action.

On Sept. 6, Garland said the DOJ "will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack." Specifically, Garland said abortion seekers and clinics will be shielded under a federal law known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

"The FACE Act prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services," Garland wrote in a statement. "It also prohibits intentional property damage of a facility providing reproductive health services. The department has consistently obtained criminal and civil remedies for violations of the FACE Act since it was signed into law in 1994, and it will continue to do so now."

The federal law, commonly known as the FACE Act, prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services. The law also prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and other reproductive health centers.

The new Texas law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks — before some women know they’re pregnant. Courts have blocked other states from imposing similar restrictions, but Texas’ law differs significantly because it leaves enforcement up to private citizens through lawsuits instead of criminal prosecutors.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week voted 5-4 to deny an emergency appeal from abortion providers and others but also suggested that their order likely wasn’t the last word and other challenges can be brought.

“The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack,” Garland said last week. "We have reached out to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and FBI field offices in Texas and across the country to discuss our enforcement authorities."

"We will not tolerate violence against those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services, physical obstruction or property damage in violation of the FACE Act," he concluded.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.