Judge temporarily blocks Texas abortion ban, calling it an 'offensive deprivation of an important right'

A federal judge issued a temporary injunction against an abortion ban in the state of Texas, calling it an "offensive deprivation of an important right."

The law, known as Senate Bill 8, banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat could be detected, which could be as early as six weeks. Pro-abortion advocates have claimed that the law is an unconstitutional infringement on the right to abortion.

In his ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman accused the state of Texas of "pursuing an unprecedented and aggressive scheme to deprive its citizens of a significant and well-established constitutional right."

Pitman was nominated to the federal court in Austin by former President Barack Obama in 2014.

Critics of the law say that the authors of the law created a semantic scheme in order to get around restrictions against the government directly tampering with those seeking abortions.

Pitman's ruling was in response to a challenge by the Biden administration.

Texas officials are likely to seek to appeal the ruling in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court has previously ruled in favor of the law, which leads many to believe it would do so again if given the chance.

Pitman appeared to refer to the likelihood that the appellate court may reinstate the law in his ruling.

"From the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution," wrote Pitman.

"That other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide," he added. "This Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right."

If the appeals court reverses Pitman's ruling, the case could be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here's more about the legal fight over the abortion law:

First arguments heard on Texas abortion lawwww.youtube.com