Supreme Court authorizes courts to block Texas law restricting abortion

A hope for the supporters of the right for women to dispose of their bodies. The Supreme Court of the United States authorized, Friday, December 10, the federal courts to intervene against a very restrictive law in Texas on abortion, without going so far as to suspend it.

This half-hearted decision removes the procedural obstacles that have so far prevented judges in federal courts from blocking the Texas law, which nevertheless violates the jurisprudence of the highest American court. The law, which came into force on September 1, prohibits abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, even in cases of incest or rape.

Texas devised a law to bypass Supreme Court case law, which allows abortion up to 22-24 weeks pregnant. This law thus encourages citizens to take civil action against people and organizations that help women get abortions against the promise of $ 10,000 in compensation. Seized urgently when the text entered into force, the Supreme Court took refuge behind these “new questions of procedure” to refuse to intervene.

His inaction, seen as a sign of the influence of the three magistrates appointed by Donald Trump, had been strongly criticized by the Democrats. Ultimately, “eight members of the court agree in saying” that the principle which protects the sovereignty of the 50 States, “does not prevent prosecution in federal courts.”

The head of the Court and three progressive magistrates added, in a separate text, wanting the courts to quickly block this law “in view of its sinister and lingering effects”.