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The Department of Justice is planning to sue Texas as soon as this week, POLITICO has confirmed, a move that comes just days after Attorney General Merrick Garland said his department is exploring options to challenge the state’s strict abortion law. While the lawsuit could come as soon as Thursday, it’s possible the timeline will be pushed back, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the Justice Department’s preparations. The Biden administration has faced building pressure to act after the Supreme Court allowed the law to take effect in a 5-4 decision. (Ward and Gerstein, 9/8)

Foes of the new Texas law that bans most abortions have been looking to the Democratic-run federal government to swoop in and knock down the most restrictive abortion law in effect in the country. But it’s nowhere near that simple. President Joe Biden , who denounces the law as “almost un-American,” has directed the Justice Department to try to find a way to block its enforcement. And Attorney General Merrick Garland says his prosecutors are exploring all possible options. But legal experts warn that while the law may ultimately be found unconstitutional, the way it’s written means it’ll be an uphill legal battle. (Whitehurst and Balsamo, 9/9)

The White House scoffed Wednesday at Gov. Greg Abbott’s assurance that Texas will eliminate rape, calling it an empty promise that does nothing to mitigate a new abortion ban that makes no exception for pregnancies that result from sexual assault. Arrests are made in just 23% of rape cases, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Vice President Kamala Harris accused Abbott of trying “to arrogantly dismiss concerns about rape survivors” with “empty words … fueled with not only arrogance but bravado.” (Gillman, 9/8)

Vice President Harris on Wednesday tore into Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for comments he made about rape and the state’s new restrictive abortion law as she campaigned for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in her home state. Harris began her remarks by expressing disgust at comments Abbott made on Tuesday in which he dismissed concerns about the new Texas law causing rape victims to carry a pregnancy to term and claimed that Texas would “eliminate rape.” (Chalfant, 9/8)

Texas' new abortion ban is notable for several reasons -- chief among them how it is enforced. The statute, which is the most restrictive abortion law in the country, bars physicians from providing abortions once they detect a so-called fetal heartbeat -- technically the flutter of electrical activity within the cells in an embryo. ... The law -- which is enforced civilly, rather than criminally, by members of the public -- can potentially have very broad applications and could result in numerous lawsuits over one suspected illegal abortion, experts told ABC News. (Deliso, 9/9)

Texas’ new stringent abortion law has been described as a ban on abortions that kicks in as early as six weeks of pregnancy. It’s a characterization politicians have clung to, with Gov. Greg Abbott using it to defend why the law doesn’t exempt victims of rape or incest. ... But in reality, the time frame to get an abortion is much shorter, even if someone realizes they are pregnant right away. And in Texas, more than 80% of abortions happened after the six-week mark. (Waller, 9/8)