Planned Parenthood and other abortion-rights groups on Monday filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court to block a Texas law that has left at least a dozen clinics in the state unable to provide services to women.

After a panel of judges appointed by President George W. Bush reversed a lower court decision blocking the Texas law on Friday, the abortion-rights groups asked the nation’s high court to immediately put the law on hold.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Texas law requires that abortion doctors have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. According to Reuters, the restrictions meant that at least a dozen clinics in Texas were forced to stop offering abortion services.

Justice Antonin Scalia is responsible for overseeing emergency petitions for the state of Texas.

Also on Monday, the high court dismissed an appeal to a ruling that had blocked abortion restrictions in Oklahoma. In late October, the Oklahoma Supreme Court had ruled that the law “effectively bans all medication abortions” by restricting drug-induced procedures.

In a third case, the state of Arizona is asking the court for permission to ban abortion after 20 weeks. The Supreme Court had previously declared abortions bans prior to 23 or 24 weeks to be unconstitutional.

[Photo credit: Flickr/smirk]