Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Law Texas SB8 Cracks Door For Challenge

(Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images) By Essence ·Updated December 10, 2021

The Supreme Court declined to prevent Texas law SB8, which nearly completely outlawed abortions in the state by enacting a strict timeline of six-weeks, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Enacted by the legislature of the state of Texas, the law SB8 has been casually referred to as the “abortion ban.”

Marsha Jones, executive director of The Afiya Center, expressed her thoughts on the law in a statement. “SB8 will create a wave of death by further perpetuating the rate of maternal mortality and morbidity,” she said.

The fractured group of justices did however allow a slight sliver of room for their decision to be challenged.

The court initially chose to uphold the controversial law in a 5-4 decision in early September.

The six conservative justices voted in union, as did the three liberal judges in this most recent decision.

The conservative majority deemed that medical professionals who perform abortions had the right to file lawsuits against those charged with issuing state licenses but not the judges or clerks in the state tasked with overseeing them.

The ultimate question presented before the judges was stated in the official petition: “Whether a State can insulate from federal-court review a law that prohibits the exercise of a constitutional right by delegating to the general public the authority to enforce that prohibition through civil actions.”

Protestors have routinely staked out the court wielding signs that decry that they want “Bans Off Our Bodies.” They have also been wearing sweatshirts and hats with similar phrases. Other anti-abortion protestors have been pacing with religious themed signs.

(Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

On December 1, the members of the court listened to arguments concerning a similar case in the state of Mississippi that many felt laid the groundwork for the reversal of the decision made in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113. Decided in 1973 the landmark case has been held up as the precedent protecting reproductive rights in the United States since its conclusion.

Those seeking the court’s intervention in challenging the law included, “Texas abortion providers and individuals and organizations that support abortion patients,” stated the petition. The Counsel Of Record for the petitioner’s brief was Marc Hearron from the Center For Reproductive Rights.

You can read the law here.

TOPICS: abortion Abortion Bans Mississippi Texas