The Supreme Court "failed us today," wrote the abortion providers at the center of the legal challenge to S.B. 8, the controversial Texas law that allows private citizens to sue clinics that provide abortions.
"For 101 days, our patients have been left with two choices: carry a pregnancy they didn't want to begin with or jump through hoops to leave the state. It's heartbreaking and it should have never happened to begin with," wrote Whole Woman's Health, a network of abortion providers that operates four clinics in Texas.
"We aren't entirely sure what's going to happen. It's disappointing that #SB8 is so blatantly cruel and unconstitutional and the court has decided not to grant us relief," the organization said.
So, the takeaway from #SCOTUS:
— Whole Woman's Health (@WholeWomans) December 10, 2021
We won, on very narrow grounds. Our lawsuit can continue against the health department, medical board, nursing board, and pharmacy board. We’d hoped for a statewide injunction, but no clear path to it.
Rest assured, we will NOT stop fighting.
The narrow ruling, issued Friday morning, allows the challenge brought by Whole Woman's Health to proceed in a lower court. In that sense, it is a victory for the provider.
But abortion rights advocates – joined in their effort by the U.S. Department of Justice – had hoped the court would issue an injunction pausing enforcement of the law.
The Supreme Court declined to do so, meaning the law remains in effect, as it has been since Sept. 1.
At its heart is a novel way of outlawing abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy: Rather than leave enforcement to government officials, which is prohibited under Roe v. Wade, the Texas law allows private citizens to sue anybody who assists with an abortion. If successful, the person bringing the suit can win a bounty of at least $10,000, which must be paid by the defendant.
The legal battle now returns to a federal court in Austin. It may eventually return to the Supreme Court.
"We'd hoped for a statewide injunction, but no clear path to it. Rest assured, we will NOT stop fighting," the provider wrote.
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