Abortion Providers Ask Supreme Court To Hear Texas Abortion Case — Again - Forbes

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Topline

Abortion providers in Texas asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to consider its challenge to Texas’ near-total ban on abortion for the second time, arguiing the court should hear their case on an expedited basis because the lower appeals court is taking too long to move forward with it.

Key Facts

The abortion providers filed a request with the Supreme Court asking them to hear Texas’ motion to dismiss the case, now pending at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, without waiting for that court to rule on it first.

The petitioners are asking the Supreme Court to consider the legality of the Texas law’s provision that empowers private citizens to enforce the abortion ban through lawsuits against those who “aid and abet” an abortion, and whether Texas can “insulate” the law from “federal-court review” using that enforcement mechanism.

The abortion rights advocates previously asked the Supreme Court to consider its lawsuit against the Texas law, known as Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), on an emergency basis and strike the law down before it went into effect.

The court ruled 5-4 to let SB 8 stand, saying it was too soon to bring a legal challenge but not ruling on the constitutionality of the law itself.

The Fifth Circuit has slow-walked the case and issued orders blocking it from moving forward in district court, and the abortion providers noted it is unlikely the case will be heard there before December.

This petition to the Supreme Court, unlike the previous emergency motion, is asking the court to consider the case on an expedited basis, but “with the benefit of briefing and argument” that will give the justices more information on which to base their decision.

Big Number

23. That’s the number of days the Texas law has been in effect, blocking most people in the state from obtaining abortions and reportedly filling up neighboring states’ abortion clinics with Texans who have traveled hundreds of miles to get the procedure.

Crucial Quote

“We’re asking the Supreme Court for this expedited appeal because the Fifth Circuit has done nothing to change the dire circumstances on the ground in Texas,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “We need this case to move as quickly as possible.”

Chief Critic

“Every day, the abortion industry loses money, loses business, and loses their legal attacks against the Texas Heartbeat Act,” Texas Right to Life Vice President Elizabeth Graham, whose anti-abortion organization helped draft SB 8, said in a statement. “Today’s filing with the Supreme Court proves they are running out of options.”

Key Background

SB 8 bans all surgical abortions in Texas after approximately six weeks into a pregnancy, blocking an estimated 85% of abortions in the state and marking the most extreme restrictions on the procedure in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. The law has so far avoided being struck down in court thanks to its private lawsuit provision, which tries to make it harder to sue over the law by having private citizens enforce it rather than the government. In addition to the litigation brought by the abortion providers, the Biden administration has also sued Texas in an effort to block SB 8. A hearing in that case, which could result in the law being temporarily blocked as the lawsuit plays out, is scheduled for October 1.

What To Watch For

The Supreme Court’s ruling could affect how other states proceed with their abortion restrictions, as officials in some Republican-led states have already signaled they plan to copy Texas’ law because it is less likely to be shot down in court. A Florida lawmaker became the first to introduce such legislation on Wednesday, with legislators in other states likely to follow.