Texas Supreme Court Shuts Down Final Challenge to Abortion Law

Multiple sources reported on the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling against the Center’s challenge to S.B. 8, the draconian Texas law that bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy and incentivizes individuals to enforce it. In December, the U.S. Supreme Court left a small opening for the Center’s case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, to continue by suing state medical licensing officials. Now, that opening has closed. Forbes quoted Center president and CEO Nancy Northup on the ruling, who stated, “With this ruling, the sliver of this case that we were left with is gone. The courts have allowed Texas to nullify a constitutional right. We will continue to do everything in our power to right this wrong.”

Both the Center’s Marc Hearron, senior counsel, and Elisabeth Smith, director of state policy and advocacy, echoed Northup. The Associated Press quoted Hearron saying, “There is nothing left, this case is effectively over with respect to our challenge to the abortion ban.” Smith commented to The Texas Signal, “Abortion rights activists have been warning of this nightmare for months: these bounty hunter laws could enable more and more states to ban abortion nearly entirely even while Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land.”

The Washington Post reported that Center senior staff attorney Molly Duane said the most promising path forward may be with the Center’s client, Alan Braid, a doctor in San Antonio, who provided an abortion in violation of the ban. 

Learn about the Center’s work challenging S.B. 8: 

• Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson
• Braid v. Stiley

Read the media coverage of Texas’s Supreme Court ruling: 

• The New York Times: Texas Supreme Court Shuts Down Final Challenge to Abortion Law, 03.11.22
• Reuters: Texas top court deals blow to clinics seeking to block abortion law, 03.11.22
• The Wall Street Journal: Court Ruling Deals Near-Final Blow to Suit Challenging Texas Abortion Law, 03.11.22
• The Associated Press: Texas clinics’ lawsuit over abortion ban ‘effectively over’, 03.11.22
• The Texas Signal: The Texas Abortion Ban is Coming to More States, 03.17.22
• The Washington Post: Texas Supreme Court rules against abortion providers in federal challenge to restrictive state law, 03.11.22
• El Tiempo Latino: Corte Suprema de Texas dio golpe final al intento de defensores de anular la ley de aborto, 03.14.22
• The Dallas Morning News: Federal challenge of Texas SB 8 abortion law doomed in wake of new state Supreme Court ruling, 03.11.22
• Law and Crime: Texas Supreme Court Guts Challenge to Abortion Law in Ruling Civil Rights Activists Call a ‘Devastating Injustice’, 03.11.22
• KHOU 11: Texas Supreme Court rules state officials cannot enforce controversial abortion law, 03.11.22
• Courthouse News Service: Texas Supreme Court shuts down challenge to restrictive abortion law, 03.11.22
• Ms. Magazine: Texas Supreme Court Ends Federal Court Challenge to State’s Abortion Ban, 03.12.22
• The Texas Tribune: Texas Supreme Court deals final blow to federal abortion law challenge, 03.11.22
• Democracy Now!: Texas Supreme Court Leaves Near-Total Abortion Plan in Place, 03.14.22
• The Intercept: Roe Is Dead. Long Live Roe?, 03.14.22
• The Hill: Overnight Health Care — Texas abortion providers dealt critical blow, 03.11.22
• Axios: Texas Supreme Court rules against providers in abortion ban case, 03.11.22
• Forbes: Texas Supreme Court Deals Blow To Abortion Law Challenge — Likely Killing Providers’ Case, 03.11.22
• CBS News: Texas Supreme Court paves way for strict abortion law to remain in place, 03.11.22
• Bloomberg Law: Texas Abortion Clinics Lose Major Battle in Fight Over State Ban, 03.11.22
• Web M.D.: Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Providers in Abortion Ban Case, 03.14.22