US Supreme Court leaves Texas abortion curbs intact but allows suit

WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court on Friday left in place a ban on most abortions in Texas but allowed a legal challenge to proceed, with the fate of the Republican-backed measure that allows private citizens to enforce it still hanging in the balance.

The justices in an 8-1 ruling lifted a block on lower court proceedings and permitted a lawsuit by abortion providers, which may pave the way for a federal judge to block the nation's toughest abortion law at least in part. The conservative-majority court on Sept. 1 declined to halt the law on the day it took effect. It also dismissed on Friday a separate challenge by President Joe Biden's administration.

The law bans abortions at around six weeks, a point when many women do not yet realize they are pregnant, with no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

The Supreme Court has yet to decide another major abortion case from Mississippi that could lead to the overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide. Mississippi's law, blocked by lower courts, bans abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The conservative justices during arguments on Dec. 1 indicated sympathy toward Mississippi's law and potential support for overturning Roe.

Abortion providers and Biden's administration had asked the Supreme Court to block the Texas law while the litigation continues, but the justices opted to leave it in place for now.

Friday's ruling, authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, did not directly address the broader questions raised in the Mississippi case. The court's decision not to block the Texas law provided another signal that its majority may be inclined to curb abortion rights.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden is "very concerned" that the justices left the Texas law in place and reiterated his support for Democratic-backed legislation that would buttress abortion rights nationwide.

The Texas law enables private citizens to sue anyone who performs or assists a woman in getting an abortion after embryo cardiac activity is detected. Individual citizens can be awarded a minimum of $10,000 for successful lawsuits. Biden's administration has called this a "bounty."

"It's stunning that the Supreme Court has essentially said that federal courts cannot stop this bounty-hunter scheme enacted to blatantly deny Texans their constitutional right to abortion. The court has abandoned its duty to ensure that states do not defy its decisions," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which challenged the law on behalf of abortion provider Whole Woman's Health.

Reuters