Abortion

Conservative Justices Skeptical of Texas Abortion Law

Written by SK Ashby

The Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments for and against the case to temporarily block the unique Texas law that allows private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who obtains or participate in an abortion and conservative justices on the court appeared to be more skeptical of the law than many may have assumed.

I remain skeptical that the universal right to abortion under Roe v Wade will survive the current court, but in this case the conservatives have their own semi-unrelated reasons for possibly opposing the law.

I feel like I should have seen this coming, but they're concerned that if this law survives it could lead to copycat laws in liberal states that target conservatives.

Kavanaugh said the Texas law "exploited" a loophole in court precedent concerning when state officials can be barred from enforcing unconstitutional laws. He wondered if the court should "close that loophole."

Kavanaugh also wondered if states could pass similar laws that could infringe other constitutional rights, including the right to bear arms. A state, for example, could allow for $1 million in damages against anyone who sells an AR-15 rifle, he said. [...]

Other justices, including conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, appeared skeptical about the idea of judges themselves being sued under the law. Roberts on Sept. 1 had dissented along with the court's three liberal justices.

Some conservative justices, including Justice Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, raised the question of whether anyone would have standing to sue under the Texas law without having a direct injury.

The notion that private citizens with no relation to patients or abortion providers have no standing to sue seems like the most obvious answer to this entire case to me, but if the law is ultimately struck down because conservatives are worried that it could be used against their precious guns, I suppose I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.