The Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration’s request to block the Texas Heartbeat Act immediately and scheduled oral arguments for November 1.
The Texas Heartbeat Act remains in effect until the court rules. Sonia Sotomayor was the lone justice to write a dissent from the court’s decision to allow the law to stay in place before November 1.
Texas Right to Life Director of Media and Communication Kimberlyn Schwartz responded:
“This is a great development for the Pro-Life movement because the law will continue to save an estimated 100 babies per day, and because the justices will actually discuss whether these lawsuits are even valid in the first place.”
Justices will consider a similar lawsuit, Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, at the same time as the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) case. Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson appeared previously in the high court when the justices denied abortionists’ plea to block the Texas Heartbeat Act before September 1.
The key issue the court will consider is whether these attacks on the Pro-Life policy are actually valid. The federal government failed to show that they have legal standing to challenge the law and if they have sustained irreparable harm because of the Texas Heartbeat Act. Furthermore, Biden’s DOJ neglected to prove that a federal judge can constitutionally thwart state judges and clerks’ responsibilities. Justices will not address in the November 1 proceedings whether they believe the law is constitutional.
Earlier this month, an Obama-nominated judge, Robert Pitman, ruled in favor of the Biden administration, blocking the law.
Within 48 hours, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals fully reinstated the Texas Heartbeat Act.
Texas became the first state in the nation on September 1 to enforce a heartbeat policy. The law grants private citizens the ability to sue abortionists who kill preborn babies with detectable heartbeats in Texas. Thus, abortionists in Texas have ceased committing abortions after six weeks’ gestation (the approximate time a baby’s heartbeat can be detected).
The law has saved nearly 5,000 babies from abortion, per Texas Right to Life’s estimates.