Friday 10th December 2021
Decision of the Supreme Court
Texas abortion law remains in effect
After the abortion law enacted in the state of Texas sparked controversy around the world, the US Supreme Court has now decided to uphold it for the time being. As a small concession, however, abortion clinics should be able to sue against the strict law.
In the struggle for the right to abortion, the US Supreme Court has initially spoken out in favor of the extensive abortion law. However, lawsuits from abortion clinics against the controversial, highly restrictive Texas state law have ruled it admissible. Eight of the nine judges in the conservative court spoke out in favor of such complaints being heard in a federal court.
The strictest abortion law in the United States came into effect on September 1 in conservative Texas. It prohibits abortions from the point at which the fetus’s heartbeat can be determined, i.e. from about the sixth week of pregnancy. Many women do not even know at this point that they are pregnant. Even in the case of rape or incest, the law does not provide for any exceptions.
Critics of the law had hoped the Supreme Court could overturn the law altogether after a majority of constitutional judges indicated in early November that they believe the “heartbeat law” to be inadmissible.
Strict abortion laws in other states had previously repeatedly failed because they violated the Supreme Court’s “Roe v. Wade” judgment. In 1973 the Supreme Court enshrined the right of women to an abortion and confirmed this in a further landmark judgment in 1992. As a guideline, abortions are generally allowed until the fetus is viable outside the womb. This is the case after about 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Private individuals should expose violations of the law
Texas law differs from other restrictive abortion laws in that it tries to keep state agencies out of enforcing the ban. Instead, private individuals are supposed to sue people who they suspect of helping women with an abortion after the sixth week. The Texan authorities would then not be involved, according to the calculation of the draftsmen of the law.
Abortion clinics and their employees in particular face convictions and severe penalties in Texas. You can now turn to the federal courts to stop the law from being applied. Supreme Court chief John Roberts and three Liberal judges added in a separate text to the ruling that they hoped the law would be swiftly blocked “given its dire and far-reaching implications”.