The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a pair of cases questioning the constitutionality of Texas’ near-total ban on abortion, according to an opinion filed Friday by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The nation’s highest court decided for the second time not to block the law while those legal challenges play out. However, it agreed to hear lawsuits filed by abortion providers and the U.S. Department of Justice seeking to overturn the law, championed by Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans.
Oral arguments for the cases will begin Monday, Nov. 1, according to Sotomayor’s opinion. While such an expedited start is unusual, Sotomayor criticized the conservative-dominated court for declining for a second time to place the law on hold.
“The promise of future adjudication offers cold comfort, however, for Texas women seeking abortion care, who are entitled to relief now,” she wrote in a dissent. “These women will suffer personal harm from delaying their medical care, and as their pregnancies progress, they may even be unable to obtain abortion care altogether.”
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This article appears in Oct 20 – Nov 2, 2021.
