US Supreme Court Outlines Legal Challenges to SB8, Texas’s ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban

In an 8-1 vote, The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Texas abortion providers can challenge SB8, the state’s extreme “heartbeat bill,” by suing certain state licensing officials in federal court.

However, the judges — by a vote of 5-4 — will not allow the state judge, secretary of state or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue because he has “no enforcement authority.”

The court also upheld the US Department of Justice’s challenge to the constitutionality of SB8, upholding Texas’s near-total abortion ban in effect so far.

More to come