Texas abortion providers conceded Friday that they have lost their best chance of stopping the country’s most restrictive abortion law.
The Texas Supreme Court’s decision, which is completely controlled by Republicans, marked the end of a federal lawsuit that was filed by abortion clinics even before September restrictions went into effect. However, they were rejected at almost every turn thereafter.
Marc Hearron, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights who led the challenge to Texas’ Senate Bill 8, stated that “there is nothing left. This case is effectively over.”
Although Texas abortion clinics have not dropped the lawsuit, they expect that it will be dismissed within the next few weeks or months.
Texas law prohibits abortions after six weeks of gestation. It also makes no exceptions for cases of rape and incest. Since the law’s implementation, Texas abortions have fallen by more than half since then.
It is likely to further embolden other Republican-controlled states that are now pressing forward with similar laws, including neighboring Oklahoma, where many Texas women have crossed state lines to get an abortion for the past six months. The Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate on Thursday approved a half-dozen anti-abortion measures, including a Texas-style ban.
The Texas Supreme Court’s decision focused on whether or not medical licensing officials were able to enforce the law known under Senate Bill 8. Clinics could sue those clinics seeking to stop the restrictions.
Justice Jeffrey Boyd, however, wrote for the court that these state officials do not have any enforcement authority “directly or indirectly”.
Texas abortion providers knew they had few options, and the law would remain in effect for the foreseeable future.
In a separate case from Mississippi, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that it would repeal abortion rights and potentially overturn Roe v. Wade in a ruling expected later in the year.
According to state health statistics, Texas saw a drop in monthly abortions by more than half in the first two months following the law’s implementation. However, and researchers indicate that the number of Texas women going online to obtain abortion pills via mail has increased sharply.
