The Supreme Court ruled to leave the Texas abortion plan in place—but the door has been left open for abortion providers to challenge the six-week ban in court.
“The Court concludes that the petitioners may pursue a pre-enforcement challenge against certain of the named defendants but not others,” the Court, led by Justice Neil Gorsuch, said.
Abortion providers and abortion rights advocates were unconvinced of the inferred room for maneuver in the Court’s ruling.
“The Supreme Court has essentially greenlit Texas’s cynical scheme and prevented federal courts from blocking an unconstitutional law,” the Center for Reproductive Rights, tweeted.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett turned down the request to reverse the ban. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for himself and the Court’s three liberal Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, said those planning to lodge a legal challenge should make haste.
“Given the ongoing chilling effect of the state law, the District Court should resolve this litigation and enter appropriate relief without delay,” Roberts wrote.
The law bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, allowing private individuals to sue in state court against people who allegedly perform abortions.
“We will continue to seek justice in the shred of the case that the court has allowed to go forward and seek every other legal means to stop this catastrophic law,” said Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights per The New York Times.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) expressed its disappointment over the ruling, but vowed to fight on:
“The Supreme Court has once again failed to block Texas’s extreme abortion ban. Make no mistake: SB8 continues to wreak havoc on people’s lives every additional day it’s in effect,” the official Twitter account reads. “More to come on what this means from our legal experts soon.”
