Story highlights Ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure overturnedTexas attorney general says he will appeal federal judge's ruling(CNN) A federal judge has struck down Texas' ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure. On Wednesday, US District Judge Lee Yeakel overturned Texas Senate Bill 8 -- which was passed earlier this year and banned doctors from performing dilation and evacuation abortions. "That a woman may make the decision to have an abortion before a fetus may survive outside her womb is solely and exclusively the woman's decision. A number of abortion providers and women's health groups, including Planned Parenthood and Whole Woman's Health, challenged the law. Banning the procedure -- the most common type of abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy -- means women must seek riskier alternatives, they argued.

Source: CNN November 23, 2017 19:18 UTC