Supreme Court Refuses to Block Texas Abortion Ban

Multiple sources reported on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Center’s case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, which challenges Texas’s abortion ban and vigilante scheme. The Court refused to block the blatantly unconstitutional ban, which has ended more abortion access in the state. It dismissed the most significant part of the Center’s case, which would have allowed abortion providers to sue state judges, clerks, and Attorney General in federal court, but allowed providers to only sue certain state licensing officials. 

Nancy Northup, the Center’s president and CEO, commented on the Court’s ruling to Ms. Magazine, “It’s stunning that the Supreme Court has essentially said that federal courts cannot stop this bounty-hunter scheme enacted to blatantly deny Texans their constitutional right to abortion. The Court has abandoned its duty to ensure that states do not defy its decisions. For 100 days now, this six-week ban has been in effect, and today’s ruling means there is no end in sight.”

Amy Hagstrom Miller, the Center’s client and president and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, has seen the devastating impact of S.B. 8 on the ground. She stated g to NBC News, “We’ve had to turn hundreds of patients away since this ban took effect, and there is no end in sight. For nearly 50 years, the Supreme Court has said that abortion is protected by our Constitution, yet they are allowing Texans to be denied that right.” Politico also reported that unless the law is blocked soon, Miller’s clinic may be forced to permanently close its doors.

While The Washington Post called the ruling a “narrow win for abortion providers,” the Center’s senior counsel Marc Hearron noted,  “Make no mistake, while the court allowed our legal challenge to proceed against some state licensing officials, an injunction against those officials will not block Texas’s bounty-hunting scheme.”

Learn more about the case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson. 

Media coverage of the Supreme Court’s ruling:

• The Washington Post: Opinion: The Supreme Court’s Texas abortion ruling reveals the conservative majority’s radicalism, 12.13.21
• The Washington Post: Supreme Court ruling on Texas abortion ban is a narrow victory for abortion rights, 12.10.21
• Financial Times: Supreme Court allows Texas abortion providers to sue but leaves ban in place, 12.10.21
• The Intercept: Supreme Court Ruling On Texas Abortion Law Opens Door To Copycat Schemes Everywhere, 12.11.21
• Politico: POLITICO Playbook: ‘Middle-class Joe’ visits late-night Jimmy, 12.11.21
• The Guardian: How dismantling Roe v Wade could imperil other ‘core, basic human rights’, 12.11.21
• Healthline: What Could Happen in the U.S. If Roe v. Wade Is Overturned,12.10.21
• Ms. Magazine: Supreme Court Refuses to Block Texas Abortion Ban—Leaving Only Slow, Arduous and Uncertain Pathways to Ending the Ban, 12.10.21
• New Mexico Political Report: U.S. Supreme Court decision on Texas abortion law impacts New Mexico abortion providers, patients and funds, 12.11.21
• Associated Press: Court won’t stop Texas abortion ban, but OKs clinics’ suit, 12.10.21
• Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court leaves Texas abortion curbs intact but allows suit, 12.10.21
• The New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Challenge to Texas Abortion Law but Leaves It in Effect, 12.10.21
• The Washington Post: Supreme Court says Texas abortion providers may proceed with challenge of six-week ban, leaves law in effect for now, 12.10.21
• The Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court leaves Texas abortion law in effect, but allows providers to challenge it, 12.10.21
• NPR: The provider challenging Texas’s abortion law criticizes the Supreme Court’s decision, 12.10.21
• Bloomberg: Supreme Court Leaves Texas Six-Week Abortion Ban in Force for Now, 12.10.21
• Bloomberg Law: Supreme Court ‘Green-Lit’ Texas Abortion Ban, Clinic Lawyers Say, 12.10.21
• NBC News: Supreme Court says challenge to Texas’ ban on abortion can proceed, allows law to remain in effect for now, 12.10.21
• ABC News: Supreme Court thwarts bid to block SB8 on ‘dark day’ for Texas abortion rights, 12.10.21
• Forbes: Texas Abortion Law: Here’s What Happens Next After Supreme Court Refuses To Block It, 12.10.21
• Politico: SCOTUS allows clinics’ challenge to Texas abortion ban to proceed, 12.10.21
• Roll Call: Supreme Court allows narrow challenge to Texas abortion law, 12.10.21
• Law360: Justices Let Abortion Clinics Sue Over Texas Law, 12.10.21
• The 19th: Supreme Court rules that abortion providers can sue over Texas law, 12.10.21
• The Atlantic: The Court Invites an Era of Constitutional Chaos, 12.10.21
• The Independent: Texas abortion law: Supreme Court allows clinics to sue but leaves strict law in effect, 12.10.21
• Buzzfeed: The Supreme Court Revived A Constitutional Challenge To Texas’s Six-Week Abortion Ban, 12.10.21
• The Texas Tribune: Abortion providers are apocalyptic over U.S. Supreme Court ruling: “This is a dark day,” 12.10.21
• The Texas Tribune: U.S. Supreme Court lets enforcement of Texas abortion law continue but allows legal challenges to proceed, 12.10.21
• Fort Worth Star Telegram: Supreme Court says providers can keep challenging Texas abortion law, but SB 8 stands, 12.10.21
• Houston Chronicle: U.S. Supreme Court leaves Texas 6-week abortion ban in effect but allows some challenges to law, 12.10.21
• The Dallas Morning News: Texas conservatives praise SCOTUS decision on Senate Bill 8 as abortion rights groups condemn ruling, 12.10.21
• The Dallas Morning News: Supreme Court lets stand Texas 6-week abortion ban and vigilante lawsuits to enforce it, 12.10.21
• Jezebel: SCOTUS Leaves Texas 6-Week Abortion Ban In Place, But Says Abortion Providers Can Still Challenge Law, 12.10.21
• Essence: Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Law Texas SB8 Cracks Door For Challenge, 12.10.21
• KUOW: What happens next in abortion providers’ fight to challenge the Texas law, 12.10.21
• Mashable: These activists refuse to surrender to the Supreme Court on abortion rights. Here’s their plan., 12.10.21
• Verdict Justia: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: The Supreme Court Is No Safe Haven for Abortion Rights, 12.10.21
• PBS News Hour: How the Supreme Court’s ruling on Texas abortion law could affect reproductive rights, 12.10.21
• WFAA: Both sides prepare for long fight after SCOTUS abortion ruling, as more than 1,000 Texans travel to other states for procedure, 12.10.21