Secular Pro-Life
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Mission and Vision
    • Stances
      • Abortion
      • Religion
      • Contraception
      • The Rape Exception
  • Content
    • Index
    • Blog
    • Myths
    • Research
      • Abortion Law and Abortion Rates
      • Abortion Law and Pregnancy Rates
      • Later Abortion
      • Embryonic Hearts
      • Abortion Views and Gender
    • Collections
      • For the biology textbook tells me so
      • Fixed that meme for you
      • They can hear you
      • Parents can hear you
      • Our children’s heartbeats
      • Becoming Pro-Life
    • Publications
      • Overview Brochure
      • Why Secular People Should Care
    • Store
  • Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Donor Opportunities
    • Why support SPL?
  • Donate
  • Menu Menu

Explainer: Supreme Court Ruling on Texas Heartbeat Law

September 2, 2021/0 Comments/in Legislation, laws, and court cases /by Kelsey Hazzard

(This content is also available as a Facebook post and Twitter thread.)

Your resident lawyer Kelsey here. I am going to try my best to explain the Supreme Court’s order in the Texas case, subject to revision when I’ve had more sleep.

First, it helps to understand what typically happens in abortion cases. A pro-life law is enacted, abortion industry interests sue, and the lower (district and circuit) federal courts enjoin (block) enforcement of the law while it works its way through the system. The Supreme Court does not get involved in the proceedings until much later, if ever. 

You can think of this pattern as creating two types of precedent. (1) The Supreme Court declines to get involved in abortion cases early on, letting lower courts run the show. Let’s call that the “procedural precedent.” (2) Plaintiffs get to keep killing unborn babies in abortions without regard to the law while the case is ongoing. Let’s call that the “substantive precedent.”

What makes the Texas case different is that the lower courts did NOT enjoin the law. The reasons for that are complicated but have to do with the unique citizen-led enforcement mechanism. So the procedural and substantive precedents counseled different results. 

Five Justices went with the procedural precedent, basically saying that it’s too early for the Supreme Court to get involved. They wrote that this doesn’t mean they are declaring the law constitutional or not; they are simply letting the lower courts handle it.

By contrast, the four Justices in the minority, who took the substantive route, wrote angry opinions decrying the impact on women’s so-called “right” to abortion, plainly rejecting Texas’s argument that babies in the womb have a right to life. Those four Justices have made their bias plain: they will never vote to correct the Court’s mistake in Roe.

The ultimate fate of the Texas law remains unclear. But for now, about a hundred babies a day are getting a reprieve.

To help, donate to a Texas pregnancy resource center! We especially love Abide Women’s Health Services.

Related Posts

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
  • Link to Instagram
https://secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SecularProlife2.png 0 0 Kelsey Hazzard https://secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SecularProlife2.png Kelsey Hazzard2021-09-02 11:49:002021-11-24 17:22:37Explainer: Supreme Court Ruling on Texas Heartbeat Law
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow via Email

* indicates required

Categories

  • Ableism
  • Administrative
  • Adoption and Foster Care
  • Biology
  • Bodily Rights
  • en español
  • Late-Term Abortion
  • Legislation, laws, and court cases
  • Medication Abortion
  • Miscarriage & Pregnancy Loss
  • Personhood
  • Philosophy
  • Pro-Life Demographics
  • Rape Exception
  • Religion
  • Research
  • SPL Emails
  • Uncategorized
  • We Asked You Answered
  • Your Stories

Archive

As the national conversation on abortion intensifies, it’s more important than ever that we demonstrate that anyone can–and everyone should–oppose abortion. Thanks to you, we are working to change minds, transform our culture, and protect our prenatal children. Every donation supports our ability to provide nonsectarian, nonpartisan arguments against abortion. Please donate today.

DONATE
© Copyright 2023 Secular Pro-Life. All rights reserved. Website Design by TandarichGroup

Related Posts

How Supreme Court case June Medical v. Russo may have set up pro-lifers for... TOMORROW: Join SPL Virtually at the Rehumanize Conference!
Scroll to top