The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Texas abortion providers can sue some state officials over the state’s six-week abortion ban, but justices are allowing the law to remain in effect.
The ruling, which comes more than one month after arguments in the case, limits which state officials can be sued by abortion providers complicated legal battle over the law that has intensified the national debate over abortion and raised questions about when states can be sued over laws they adopt.
At issue is the unusual enforcement mechanism written into the Texas law, which allows any private individual to sue abortion providers or people who aid and abet an abortion past six-weeks gestation. Successful litigants can collect at least $10,000.
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Attorneys for Texas argue that federal courts, including the Supreme Court, lack jurisdiction to block the law, because the state is not responsible for ensuring compliance. But opponents say the law was drafted specifically to evade judicial review and sets a dangerous precedent that could be replicated by states attempting to block other constitutional rights.
The court on Friday did not weigh in on abortion rights or the constitutionality of Senate Bill 8. The legal questions facing the court involved procedural issues related to the law and two pending lawsuits, one filed by abortion providers and the other by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dig deeper: Some Supreme Court justices skeptical of Texas abortion law, impact on other rights
Friday marks the third time that the Supreme Court has declined to intervene and block the Texas law, which is the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation. A divided court denied a request from abortion providers to block SB 8 from going into effect on Sept. 1 and again allowed the law to stand in late October, when the court agreed to hear oral arguments in two legal challenges to the ban.
The Biden administration sued the state over the law in September, earning an early victory from U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman of Austin, an Obama appointee, who blocked enforcement of the law. The state immediately appealed his decision to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which allowed the law to stand.
In Texas, the shifting legal landscape has left abortion providers and women looking to access the procedure scrambling for options.
More: As Supreme Court weighs Texas abortion law, opposing sides focus on its impact
Major clinics across the state have agreed to comply, ceasing abortions after six-weeks of pregnancy. Employees have described fielding calls from patients struggling to understand the parameters of the law and are tasked with directing them to legal resources available in-state or referring them to clinics across state lines.
Meanwhile, abortion opponents have celebrated the staying power of SB 8 and reported a dramatic decline in the number of abortions statewide since its implementation. A University of Texas study found that the number of abortions performed in the state has dropped by half since Sept. 1.
Other legal challenges to the law are also progressing, including in Travis County. A state district judge on Thursday ruled that some aspects of the law violate the Texas Constitution and should not be enforced, but the judge did not issue an injunction to block the law from being in effect.
While the federal cases are testing whether the state can be sued over this law, the cases before the state district judge were filed against Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion law and one of the would-be litigants in the types of cases permitted under SB 8.
More: Texas judge rules some provisions of state’s restrictive abortion law violate Texas Constitution
Further reading
More: Texas abortion law the latest in a pattern of restrictions from the GOP-controlled Legislature
More: Does the Texas abortion law protect victims of sexual assault?
More: As Supreme Court weighs Texas abortion law, opposing sides focus on its impact
More: Will Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion be overturned? What would that mean for Texas?
More: Here’s who voted for (and against) Texas’ new abortion law in the House and Senate
More: Abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy resume in Texas, after judge blocks new law