Joe Biden condemned the US supreme court, saying it had delivered “an unprecedented assault on a woman’s constitutional right” in a rebuke of its decision not to consider a Texas law that effectively bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The law, one of the most restrictive abortions bans in the US in five decades, had been in effect for nearly 24 hours when the court delivered a 5-4 decision late on Wednesday that denied an emergency appeal from abortion providers.

All three justices appointed by Donald Trump, along with two of the court’s conservative members, voted to deny the appeal.

In a statement, Biden pledged his administration would act to “ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions” as protected by the landmark Roe v Wade ruling in 1973.

He said the new legislation empowered private citizens in Texas to sue healthcare providers, family members supporting a woman exercising her right to choose after six weeks, or “even a friend who drivers her to a hospital or clinic”.

"It unleashes unconstitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impact," Biden said.