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The Supreme Court Friday morning ruled that a lawsuit by abortion providers against Texas over its abortion law may proceed, despite arguments by Texas that the way the law was written made it so that parties could not sue against the law until it was enforced.
“The Court concludes that the petitioners may pursue a pre-enforcement challenge against certain of the named defendants but not others,” the court, led by Justice Neil Gorsuch, said.
The court also let the law remain in effect pending the legal challenges. The ruling is procedural and will not be the final word on the law’s constitutionality.
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“The petitioners then filed a request for injunctive relief with the Court, seeking emergency resolution of their application ahead of [the law’s] approaching effective date,” the court said. “In the abbreviated time available for review, the Court concluded that the petitioners’ filings failed to identify a basis in existing law that could justify disturbing the Fifth Circuit’s decision to deny injunctive relief.”
Supreme Court Police officers erect a barrier between anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights protesters outside the court building, ahead of arguments in the Mississippi abortion rights case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, in Washington, U.S., December 1, 2021. The court issued procedural rulings in two different abortion cases Friday relating to a Texas abortion law. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
(REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh backed Gorsuch’s opinion in full to round out a plurality opinion.
Justice Clarence Thomas joined the court’s controlling opinion in part and dissented in part. He agreed with the dismissal of the case against some defendants but argued “there is no freestanding constitutional right to pre-enforcement review in federal court.” Therefore, he said, the abortion providers’ suit should be dismissed entirely.
“I would reverse in full the District Court’s denial of respondents’ motions to dismiss and remand with instructions to dismiss the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction,” he said.
The Texas law bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and uses a unique system to enforce that ban – allowing private individuals to bring suit in state court against people who allegedly perform abortions. The court allowed the Texas law to remain in effect while it heard a challenge about whether parties may bring suit against it before the state has actually taken enforcement actions consistent with the law.
The court also dismissed a challenge from the Department of Justice against the Texas law Friday. This means that only the suit by private parties will go forward against the law, with the potential to invalidate at a later time.
The Supreme Court is also considering a completely separate challenge to a Mississippi abortion law, a ruling on which is most likely to come next spring. That case could overturn the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.
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This is a developing story please check back for updates.
Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report.
