Late Friday night, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily set aside part of a Harris County court order that blocked the enforcement of Texas abortion bans that predate Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court’s order now allows Attorney General Ken Paxton to enforce those pre-Roe laws while the court hears the case.

Harris County Attorney Christian D Menefee, the chief civil attorney for the largest county in Texas, issued the following statement:

“It’s unconscionable that the Texas Supreme Court ruled in the middle of the night to open the door for Texans to be penalized for abortion before the trigger ban goes into effect. Attorney General Ken Paxton is continuing to argue that abortion laws dating back to the 1920s—laws that have clearly been repealed—are now magically enforceable again because Roe has been overturned. It’s a bad faith argument that will harm people across our state. His goal is to sow fear and confusion among medical professionals and women in this state. Overturning Roe may have set us back 50 years, but there is no reason that the Texas Supreme Court and the Attorney General should take Texans back to the 1920s.”

The Texas Supreme Court’s stay also applies to the state agency defendants who appealed Whole Woman’s Health, et al. v. Ken Paxton, et al. case in the 269th District Court of Harris County, Texas.

The stay does not apply to the district attorney defendants, who did not appeal the district court’s decision—those prosecutors remain blocked from enforcing pre-Roe abortion laws, per the district court’s order. The Texas Supreme Court ordered the parties to submit briefing on relevant issues by July 11 at 5 p.m.