(Bloomberg) -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was ordered to give testimony in a legal battle over funding for abortions, after previously fleeing his home to avoid being served a subpoena in the case.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said Tuesday that Paxton must provide testimony during a hearing or in a deposition to answer a central question in the case: Whether he plans to pursue criminal charges or civil penalties against organizations that fund out-of-state abortions for Texas residents.

Several of these organizations sought to compel Paxton’s testimony during a Sept. 27 hearing on their request for a preliminary injunction, which would allow them to resume funding travel for legal abortions without fear of prosecution.

The Republican official and his wife drove away from their home to avoid a person who arrived to deliver court documents. Paxton sought dismissal of the case, arguing that his office doesn’t have the authority to bring criminal prosecutions under the state’s restrictive abortion laws and that his office wasn’t given prior notice of the groups’ intentions to invite his testimony.

Pitman blocked the subpoena prior to the Sept. 27 hearing, but said he would reconsider the matter based on testimony given on the day and whether attorneys for the abortion funders could demonstrate the value of Paxton’s testimony in the case.

During the hearing, the groups highlighted numerous social media posts and media interviews where Paxton said he plans to target Texans who seek out-of-state abortions, but his language on the issue was fuzzy and his office has yet to issue official guidance on the matter. 

In his Tuesday order, Pitman said it’s clear that only Paxton can provide clarity on his position on out-of-state travel for legal abortions. 

“The court will not sanction a scheme where Paxton repeatedly labels his threats of prosecution as real for the purposes of deterrence and as hypothetical for the purposes of judicial review,” the judge wrote.

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