(Headline USA) The Texas Supreme Court upheld the state’s pro-life law this week, striking down a challenge from abortion clinics.
A group of abortion providers filed a lawsuit against state officials over the law, which bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, alleging the law violates Roe v. Wade. However, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs lacked legal standing since state officials are not the ones in charge of enforcing the law,
The law’s unusual enforcement mechanism kept it from being blocked by the Supreme Court: Private citizens, not the state, have the power to enforce the law through civil suits that can net them $10,000.
“Senate Bill 8 provides that its requirements may be enforced by a private civil action, that no state official may bring or participate as a party in any such action, that such an action is the exclusive means to enforce the requirements, and that these restrictions apply notwithstanding any other law,” the court wrote in its ruling.
“Based on these provisions, we conclude that Texas law does not grant the state-agency executives named as defendants in this case any authority to enforce the Act’s requirements, either directly or indirectly,” it added.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a similar ruling last December, arguing plaintiffs could not sue state court clerks or state lawmakers over the law.
Since the pro-life law went into effect last year, abortions in Texas have declined by 60%, according to data released by the state’s Health and Human Services.
In September 2021, when the law went into effect, only 2,200 abortions were reported by providers in the state. In August 2021, 5,400 abortions had been performed.
Leftists have also tried to use corporate pressure to force Texas to repeal the pro-life law. Activists have taken aim at companies based in Texas, and companies that have donated to the bill’s sponsors, hoping consumers will pressure corporate America to join the fight against protections for the unborn.
