afghanistan. we certainly do. congressman, thank you for joining me this morning. i appreciate it. thanks, stephanie. we ve got breaking news overnight. down in the state of texas one of the nation s strictest abortion laws just took effect. it comes after the supreme court decided not to act on an emergency petition filed by abortion clinics in the state. the law bans abortions after six weeks, which is well before many women even know they re pregnant, and with no exception for pregnancies from rape or incest. it allows private citizens to sue anyone, anyone who performs an abortion or who, quote, aids and abets it, anyone, meaning someone who has nothing to do with it. i want to bring in ben russell, our reporter for our affiliate and nbc justice correspondent, julia ainsley. how are people in texas reacting to this? reporter: in terms of a reaction, there are two ways that we can speak to reaction. there s reaction in the clinics
wade in years past. number one, this law is in place as of now. correct. and that is because the u.s. supreme court over night refused to step in and block it. now, they may still hear this case and decide on its merits. but the fact that they didn t step in last night or over night is significant. yeah. by refusing to step in so far, they have effectively stepped in as you and i talked before the show started. they effectively made a choice because abortion providers tried to file what s known as an emergency petition to say, hey, this is a big deal. please put it on hold while the case works its way through. a lot of times you see that, right? injunctions left and right while the case works its way through. here the court has not acted but they could still rule. at this very moment they could issue a decision or later this morning they could decide to put it on hold while the case works its way through. but as of right now because they did not act overnight, you cannot get an
abortions after six weeks, allowing vigilantes to sue became law last night. despite a desperate emergency petition from texas abortion critics and an out cry of concern. the high court could block it. the scene in texas today puts roe versus wade and abortion access in serious jeopardy. from the new york times editorial board, quote, it seems likely that more laws will pass and other anti-abortion state leaders will follow texas lead. the state s employ was successful in threatening clinics across the state. the court gave a green light to law makers everywhere to overturn row versus wade.
pandemic, by the eviction moratorium. that they re not impelled to move quickly. it doesn t mean that roe is dead. but i think it does suggest that roe is on life support. reporter: and the white house is issuing forceful condemnations of this texas law. president biden issued a statement saying the extreme law blatantly violates the constitutional right established under roe v. wade. vice president kamala harris called it an all-out assault on reproductive health. the supreme court could still act. there is still an emergency petition that s pending. but these abortion rights a activists, they say that these abortion clinics have effectively shut down as of midnight, no plans to reopen. and of course there s that threat of private litigation if they were to perform these abortions. thank you so much, jessica schneider. let s discuss this with former texas democratic state senator wendy davis. in 2013, as our viewers might remember, you held an 11-hour
the chopper wept down in the ocean off san diego s coast while conducting routine flight operations. after taking off from the iss abraham lincoln. one crew member was rescued overnight. their condition is unknown at this time. now to fox weather. remnants of ida moving across the mid-atlantic and into the northeast bringing a risk of we re flooding. flash flood watches stretching nearly 1,000 miles from atlanta to cape cod. meanwhile people along the southern coast could face did triple digit temperatures while the power is out. more than 25,000 utility workers are trying to restore power but it could take weeks. overnight, the supreme court allowing texas six week abortion ban to take effect. the high court did not act on an emergency petition filed by clinics. the texas law bands all abortions after six weeks ending roe v. wade in the state. it also allows citizens to file civil lawsuits against abortion