The U.S. Supreme Court today allowed federal courts to intervene against Texas’s new, very restrictive, abortion law, but did not go so far as to suspend its implementation.
This interim decision removes procedural obstacles that prevented federal judges from blocking the law, which violates the case law of the Supreme Court.
The law came into force on September 1 and prohibits abortion as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be recorded – that is, around the 6th week of pregnancy – even in case of rape or incest. The Supreme Court recognized in 1973 and reaffirmed in 1992 that women have the right to have an abortion when the fetus is not viable, that is, until the 22nd-24th week of pregnancy. But in Texas, lawmakers have enforced the law “exclusively” on citizens, complicating court intervention. Citizens can sue women and those who help them have an abortion and will be paid $ 10,000.
The Supreme Court initially refused to intervene, citing these “new procedures”. His inaction, seen as a sign of the influence of the three conservative judges appointed by Donald Trump, has been sharply criticized by the left. The legal dispute then escalated, forcing him to look into the case.
At the Nov. 1 hearing, most judges expressed skepticism about these new law enforcement “mechanisms” that Texas wanted to enforce. Today, the eight members of the Court agreed that “the principle that protects the sovereignty of the 50 States (…) does not preclude recourse to federal courts.” Only Conservative Judge Clarence Thomas disagreed.
The head of the Court, John Roberts, and the three progressive judges added in a separate statement that they would like the law to be blocked quickly by the courts, “taking into account its devastating and permanent effects.”
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