A Texas state judge has ruled the "bounty hunting" scheme in the state GOP's effective ban of abortion unconstitutional, which is good because the Supreme Court won't block the horrible law at all.
The enforcement mechanism for Texas’s abortion ban, which is the most restrictive in the nation and effectively outlaws the procedure, violates the Texas constitution, a state judge ruled Thursday.
While a win for abortion rights advocates, the narrow decision by District Judge David Peeples of Austin does not include an injunction that would halt litigation against doctors or others who “aid or abet” an abortion. Texas Right to Life, an antiabortion group that supported the legislation, said it will appeal the ruling. Meanwhile, according to abortion providers, the law, known as S.B. 8, remains in effect, continuing a near-total ban on abortion before many people know they’re pregnant at six weeks.
A spokeswoman for Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four abortion clinics in Texas, said it will not resume services until an injunction is granted.
“We are so grateful to Judge Peeples for his ruling today,” Jackie Dilworth shared in an emailed statement. “We couldn’t agree more: SB 8 IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL.”
The law’s teeth, a $10,000 award to be paid by the defendant for any successful lawsuit brought against an abortion provider, is unconstitutional for several reasons, according to the judge: Authority would be in the hands of private citizens, including people unaffected by abortions who cannot take money from a person who hasn’t harmed them in any way. The lawsuits stemming from the ban would also subvert due process, Peeples wrote.
The judge considered the other possible scenarios that such an unusual enforcement tactic could be deployed, offering examples of laws that swap the words about abortions for gun owners or bakery owners who refuse to decorate a cake with a message they believe is offensive.
“Pandora’s Box has already been opened a bit, and time will tell,” he wrote.
It's something, but the Roberts Court refuses to do anything about the law still.
The Supreme Court on Friday left in place Texas’ ban on most abortions, though it ruled that clinics in the state can sue over the most restrictive abortion law in the nation.
The decision, little more than a week after the court signaled it would roll back abortion rights and possibly overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, was greeted with dismay by abortion rights supporters.
They said the outcome, by limiting which state officials can be sued by the clinics, did not provide a path to effectively block the law.
“The Supreme Court has essentially greenlit Texas’s cynical scheme and prevented federal courts from blocking an unconstitutional law,” the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents the Texas clinics, said on Twitter.
Again, the clock at this point is just ticking down to a late June/July 4th SCOTUS ruling that allows states to ban abortion, and two dozen of them will, including Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Abortions will continue, just not with any safety. A lot of women will die.
But that was always the point.
Birth control is next, and then so are civil rights. Expect to see a lot of "There is no constitutional right to..." in the years ahead.
On the road to Gilead.
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