US Supreme Court refuses to block Texas abortion ban

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (Reuters) – The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday evening refused to block a Texas abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy, dealing a blow to abortion rights and authorizing a law banning the vast majority of abortions in the state stay in place.

Judges 5-4 dismissed an emergency request by abortion and women’s health service providers for an injunction barring enforcement of the ban, which went into effect Wednesday morning, as the litigation heats up. is continuing in their legal action challenging its constitutionality.

The ruling saw one of the court’s six Tories, Chief Justice John Roberts, join the dissenting three Liberals.

“The court order is astounding,” liberal judge Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion.

“Presented with a request to ban a clearly unconstitutional law designed to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evading judicial scrutiny, a majority of judges chose to stick their heads in the sand “, she added.

The majority of the court, in an unsigned explanation, said the ruling “is not based on any finding about the constitutionality of Texas law” and allows legal challenges to move forward.

The court’s action represents a major step in the fight against abortion as opponents have sought for decades to overturn access to the procedure and its legality.

The law would amount to a near-total ban on the procedure in Texas, as 85 to 90 percent of abortions are obtained after six weeks of pregnancy, and would likely force many clinics to close, abortion rights groups have said. .

Such a ban has never been authorized in any state since the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide, in 1973, they said.

Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Gerry Doyle

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