Thursday, January 20, 2022, marked 141 days since the Texas Heartbeat Act went into effect and the U.S. Supreme Court once again denied the opportunity to intervene and help block the near-total ban on abortion in the state.
The Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as Senate Bill 8, prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be found, often at approximately 6 weeks gestation, except in the case of a medical emergency that endangers the life of the mother. While most pro-life legislation is written to be enforced by the state, the Heartbeat Act relies on private citizens to sue to enforce the law, making it extremely difficult to block.
In fact, the Supreme Court has now denied blocking it multiple times largely due to its unique enforcement. To understand Thursday’s ruling, it’s important to note SCOTUS' three previous decisions regarding the Texas law.
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For example, before the Heartbeat Act went into effect September 1, 2021, Whole Woman’s Health and other Texas abortion providers asked the Supreme Court to block the legislation but the justices denied the request in a 5-4 vote with the majority citing “complex and novel antecedent procedural questions” due to its one-of-a-kind method of enforcement.
Then on December 10, 2021, SCOTUS sent the case of Whole Women’s Health v. Jackson back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In this decision, SCOTUS essentially noted abortion providers would have to choose the proper parties to sue in the lower courts in order to file a case questioning the constitutionality of the law. However, a defendant is hard to pinpoint due to the private citizen enforcement method.
On the same day, the Supreme Court dismissed the case of United States v. Texas, otherwise known as President Joe Biden’s attempt to block the Texas Heartbeat Act, completely, stating the federal government did not have proper standing to file the lawsuit against Texas and thus could not block the law.
After the decision on December 10, 2021, the case was sent back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Tweet This: SCOTUS has once again declined to block the Texas Heartbeat Act; the law banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
However, last week, a question arose regarding whether the appeals court should return the case of Whole Women’s Health v. Jackson to a district court judge (where the law could possibly be blocked) or whether the case could remain in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for proceedings that could be delayed months.
This question prompted abortion providers to file an emergency request asking the U.S. Supreme Court to order the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to send the case back to the original federal judge who blocked the Texas law for two days last October.
However, the Supreme Court rejected the request on Thursday, January 20, 2022, prompting dissents from Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote, “Instead of stopping a Fifth Circuit panel from indulging Texas’ newest delay tactics, the court allows the state yet again to extend the deprivation of the federal constitutional rights of its citizens through procedural manipulation.”
However, despite Sotomayor’s dismay, the legal battle continues and likewise does the life-saving measures of the Texas Heartbeat Act. In fact, the Texas Heartbeat Act is estimated to save approximately 150 babies per day, which amounts to over 21,000 lives just since it went into effect in September 2021.
