Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that allows some lawsuits to move forward challenging SB 8, the state of Texas’ six-week abortion ban. But the majority ruling allows the law to remain in effect for now. In response, Maggie Jo Buchanan, senior director of the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement on the court’s decision:
Today’s ruling is crucial in allowing at least some lawsuits to move forward against Texas’ extreme abortion ban and the law’s vigilante system of enforcement, which was designed to deny Texans their ability to defend their rights in court.
But the fact that the court left the ban in effect is unacceptable and demonstrates blatant disrespect for nearly 50 years of precedent first established in Roe v. Wade. The harm that SB 8 continues to inflict is irreparable and overwhelmingly comes at the expense of low-income people, people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, and people with disabilities, who are more likely to lack the resources needed to travel outside Texas to secure care.
The court’s actions are particularly alarming in the wake of recent arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In that case, Mississippi is explicitly urging the justices to overturn Roe outright.
If SB 8 comes before a court again—as it almost certainly will—it is imperative that the substance of the law is recognized for what it is: a flagrantly unconstitutional affront to Roe v. Wade‘s well-established right to abortion, an impermissible encroachment on Texans’ reproductive autonomy, and an embarrassment to the rule of law. SB 8 must be enjoined and the right to abortion affirmed.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at [email protected] or 202-741-6292.