EXPLAINER: The Texas abortion's law swift impact, and future

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in October will hear the Biden administration's efforts to block Texas' new law banning most abortions, which is already putting a strain on clinics and patients in the two weeks since it took effect.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, an appointee of President Barack Obama, will decide whether to grant a temporary hold that could allow Texas clinics to resume performing abortions on most patients. Currently under the new law, abortions in Texas are now prohibited once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks.

Supporters of the law known as Senate Bill 8 are preparing for a ruling that favors the Justice Department's challenge but believe the measure — the strictest abortion law in the nation — will ultimately be upheld.

Here are some questions and answers about what's next and the impact so far:

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WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT?

Abortion providers say the ramifications have been punishing and “exactly what we feared.”

More than 100 pages of new court filings this week offered the most comprehensive glimpse at how the near-total ban on abortion in Texas has played out. Physicians and executives at Texas’ nearly two dozen abortion clinics described turning away hundreds of patients, and some who show up for appointments cannot proceed because cardiac activity has been detected.

One Planned Parenthood location in Houston normally performed about two dozens abortions daily, but in the 10 days after the law took effect, the clinic had done a total of 52. Clinics in nearby states, meanwhile, say they are struggling to meet surging demand and care for their own residents is being delayed to accommodate women making long trips from Texas.

At a Planned Parenthood clinic in Oklahoma City, more than 60% of the...