The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Texas abortion providers can sue over the state’s ban on most abortions, but the justices are allowing the law to remain in effect.
The law, which has been in effect since September 1, makes abortion illegal after cardiac activity is detected in an embryo. That’s around six weeks before some women even know they are pregnant. There are no exceptions for rape or incest, according to the Associated Press.
The SCOTUS ruling comes just one day after a state district court judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that the unique enforcement scheme of a restrictive abortion law violated the State Constitution, reports the New York Times.
District Court Judge David Peeples, in a 48-page opinion, ruled that the law unconstitutionally gave legal standing to people not injured, and was an “unlawful delegation of enforcement power to a private person.”
Reuters is reporting that the nation’s highest court this month also heard arguments about a restrictive Republican-backed Mississippi law that is seen as a direct challenge to the court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide.
The Supreme Court ruling is at best, a partial victory for abortion providers. The ruling is certain to be contested, where the same federal judge who already has once blocked the law will almost certainly be asked to do so again.
Then his decision will be reviewed by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has twice voted to allow enforcement of the abortion ban.
“The abortion industry’s lawsuit abuses the judicial system and turns this court into a mere platform for airing criticisms against the boldest pro-life law to take effect since Roe v. Wade,” Kimberlyn Schwartz, a Texas Right to Life spokeswoman, said in a statement.
