Judge blocks requirement that doctors have hospital admitting privileges, but fight not yet over

Impassioned crowds from both sides of the abortion debate gathered in the Capitol rotunda in July as lawmakers debated the controversial bill that became law, a key provision of which was struck down Monday.

Photo By Helen L. Montoya/Staff

Marrah Moreland and Adam Olmos were among the abortion protesters gathered Monday outside Planned Parenthood in San Antonio after the ruling.

Photo By RON T. ENNIS/STF

State Senator Wendy Davis speaks with reporters after voting at the Southside Community Center in east Fort Worth, Texas on Monday, October 18, 2013. (Star-Telegram/Ron T. Ennis)

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Staff

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott during the Republican National Committee press conference to announce its grassroots team who will strengthen ties with Hispanic Republicans onWednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, in Houston. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle )

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AUSTIN - A federal judge on Monday struck down a key provision of Texas' controversial new abortion law and partially blocked another component, but the state's top Republicans said the fight is far from over.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel's decision to block the state from enforcing a requirement that abortion-providing doctors obtain admitting privileges at local hospitals came one day before the regulation was set to take effect. Abortion-rights groups had argued that, if enacted, the measure would cause a third of the state's abortion clinics to close.

In his ruling, Yeakel said the admitting privileges requirement is unconstitutional because it poses an undue burden on women seeking an abortion and has no "rational relationship to