Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is pushing the state’s highest court to remove a block on immediate criminal prosecutions for abortions, based on Texas state laws dating back to 1925. 

Paxton also indicated Thursday he would pursue charges for any abortions committed during the relief period provided by the restraining order, which lasts until July 12: "Let there be no mistake: the lower court’s unlawful order does not immunize criminal conduct, which can be punished at a later date once the temporary restraining order is lifted," Paxton said Thursday.  

A Harris County judge issued the order, which blocks abortions in several Texas counties from being prosecuted immediately based on laws established decades before Roe v. Wade superceded Texas state law, after Paxton released a legal advisory minutes following the reversal of Roe. The advisory celebrated the overturning of what Paxton called "an egregious act of unconstitutional judicial activism," and detailed his support for immediate prosecutions based on five different 1925 state statutes. 

However, "the general rule is you cannot appeal a temporary restraining order," explained David Levine, a professor at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. "This motion shows Paxton's zeal for pursuing these prosecutions, that he's ready to prosecute."   

The purpose, Levine opined, is to deter people from obtaining abortions that may well still be legal, “whether or not he’s legally right."

Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.