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 The challenge, which came six weeks after the state's governor
signed the law, was the latest salvo in a battle over state laws
enacted by Republican-controlled state legislatures that advocates
say limit access to abortion.
"The law we challenged today in Texas is part of a nationwide scheme
to undermine these constitutional rights and ban abortion one
restriction at a time," Nancy Northup, president of the Center for
Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Austin by Texas
abortion provider Whole Woman's Health, Planned Parenthood groups
and others.
The suit, which names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others
as defendants, seeks an injunction and a ruling that the law is
unconstitutional.
Paxton declined to comment on the challenge.
Anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life last month praised the
legislation, calling it the "most significant pro-life victory" of
the state's legislative session.
The lawsuit targets a portion of the law - known as Senate Bill 8,
which is set to go into effect on Sept. 1 - that bans dilation and
evacuation abortion procedures.
The Texas law refers to the procedure as "dismemberment abortion,"
in which a combination of suction and forceps are used to bring
tissue through the cervix.
Opponents of the law say that after about 15 weeks of pregnancy it
is the safest method of abortion.
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Seven other U.S. states have approved similar bans, prompting legal
challenges that prevented the bans from taking effect in Louisiana,
Kansas and Oklahoma, according to the Center for Reproductive
Rights.
Last year, Whole Woman's Health led a legal fight that ended in the
U.S. Supreme Court striking down a Texas abortion law that had
shuttered nearly half the state's clinics by imposing strict
regulations on doctors and facilities.
The latest Texas law, signed in June by the state's Republican
Governor Greg Abbott, also requires abortion providers to dispose of
aborted fetal tissue through burial or cremation. The plaintiffs in
the lawsuit intend to challenge that provision as well.
The state law was enacted despite the fact that U.S. District Judge
Sam Sparks in Austin put a temporary halt on a similar state
regulation on fetal tissue disposal in January.
(Reporting by Chris Kenning; editing by Daniel Wallis, G Crosse)
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