U.S. Supreme Court rules over Texas ban on abortion ban Women’s Rights News

The ruling removes the blockade of the lower courts, but allows a law banning abortion to remain in force for six weeks.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Texas abortion providers can challenge the state’s constitutionality. a new law banning most abortions, While allowing the controversial Texas law to remain in effect.

Friday’s ruling removes the blockade of lower court proceedings, which could pave the way for a U.S. federal judge to block the law at least in part. But most Texas women need to keep going travel to other states to get an abortion.

The country’s Supreme Court, which currently has a 6-3 Conservative majority, heard arguments in the case on November 1.

“We won, in very narrow areas. Our lawsuit could be filed against the health department, the medical board, the nursing board and the pharmacy council, “Whole Woman’s Health, the abortion provider that challenged the law, wrote on Twitter.

“We were expecting a state order, but no clear path. Don’t worry, we will NOT give up the fight. “

The Texas law, which went into effect in September and prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy – before most women know they are pregnant – is at the forefront. a growing struggle About access to abortion in the US.

The Supreme Court heard the arguments earlier this month A Mississippi case which could ultimately invalidate nearly 50 years of federally protected abortion rights, which were given in a 1973 landmark decision known as Roe v Wade.

In a separate ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court overturned a challenge Texas law brought by the U.S. Department of Justice.

New law enforcement mechanisms allow private citizens to file claims against anyone who provides or assists in abortion services, forcing most Texas abortion providers to close.

The Supreme Court ruling on Friday is likely to dismiss the case against a U.S. District Court judge in Texas, who has already blocked the law as unconstitutional.

But any lower court decision would be reviewed by the Conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has twice voted to enforce the Texas ban. The split decision would likely have led to another appeal to the Supreme Court.

A Texas state judge has ruled that the law, which is $ 10,000 in fines, violates anti-constitutional law enforcement laws.

The abortion provider and the Biden administration argue that the law violates the constitutional right to terminate a woman’s pregnancy – recognized in Roe v Wade – and that it is impossible to avoid federal court opinions.

In September, the month the law went into effect, the number of abortions in Texas fell by 50 percent from a year earlier, according to a study by University of Texas researchers who analyzed data from 19 of the state’s 24 abortion clinics.

Meanwhile, women seeking abortion from Texas have had to travel beyond neighboring states, where clinics are unable to keep up with the growth of Texas patients, according to a separate study by the Guttmacher Institute.