Texas court scuttles key lawsuit over state's abortion ban

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/11/texas-court-lawsuit-abortion-ban-00016504


Texas’ Supreme Court appeared to slam the door Friday on a federal lawsuit abortion providers in the state have pursued for months in a bid to have the state’s unusual privately-enforced abortion ban declared unconstitutional.

The unanimous ruling from Texas’ highest court cuts off, for now, abortion rights advocates’ ability to use federal courts to halt enforcement of the law that went into effect in September and allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps a patient access the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.

The Texas Supreme Court decision, however, does not foreclose other legal maneuvers abortion providers are using to challenge the law, like state-court suits against anti-abortion activists and groups considered likely to try to wield the statute to discourage abortions.

However, abortion-rights advocates have been relying on federal courts as a more efficient path to get a definitive ruling against the law. The decision Friday effectively closes off the route for such a challenge that the U.S. Supreme Court left open in December, when it rejected an effort to block state-court clerks and judges from accepting private lawsuits under the new law. That ruling said abortion providers might be able to press their litigation against state medical licensing officials because of an argument that they have a role in enforcing the statute.

*snip*

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Texas Supreme Court deals final blow to federal abortion law challenge

Abortions in Texas after six weeks are in effect banned in Texas. Roe v. Wade is no longer the law in Texas. The fate of Roe v. Wade and control of the SCOTUS was on the ballot in 2016. Thank you, Jill Stein and Susan Sarandon for helping to overturn Roe

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The Texas Supreme Court dealt a final blow to abortion providers’ federal challenge to the state’s latest abortion restrictions Friday.

The court ruled that state medical licensing officials do not have authority to enforce the law, which bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. This was the last, narrowly cracked window that abortion providers had left to challenge the law after the U.S. Supreme Court decimated their case in a December ruling.

The law has a unique private-enforcement mechanism that empowers private citizens to sue anyone who, in the law’s language, “aids or abets” an abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.

[Volaris]

2. Sooo, let me be sure I understand this (and please correct me if I'm wrong)

The State writes a law that say vigilante justice is kewl with them.
Supreme Court says, 'Naa, not our circus, go back to the State, and sue the vigilantes.'
State SC says, 'cant sue vigilantes, cause they're not legally allowed to do law enforcement.'

Have I got this right?!

Fuck a Gotham, Batman needs to move his ass to Fort Worth.

[Nevilledog]

3. SCOTUS hasn't ruled on constitutionality of the law yet. Just wouldn't put it on hold.

[Volaris]

5. Got it. The SC was assuming the state that wrote the 'lynch mobs are kewl' law,

Would then decide that lynch mobs, are in fact, Not Kewl.

I guess procedurally, it was necessary, but feels like it was Robert's way of kicking a can he doesnt actually want kicked.

[Hekate]

4. KnR

[Buckeyeblue]

6. Has anyone been sued yet?

Is this just one big bluff that can't be enforced? I've wondered how this would play out in actuality.

How would anyone, other than the medical facility, if the woman was more than 6 weeks into the pregnancy?