AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A federal appeals court has cleared the way for immediate enforcement of a new abortion law in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had asked the three-judge panel to cut short the typical three-week waiting period between when the court issues a ruling and implementing it.
The new law requires doctors to conduct a sonogram before performing an abortion, to show the woman the image, to play the fetal heartbeat aloud and describe the features of the fetus.
Friday's order clears the way for the Texas Department of State Health Services to issue rules for complying with the law and to prosecute doctors who do not obey it.
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