Rapid Reaction—Why the Supreme Court’s Texas Abortion Decisions Are Infuriating

"The Court should have put an end to this madness months ago, before SB 8 first went into effect. It failed to do so then, and it fails again today."

Photo of abortion rights protesters outside the Supreme Court holding signs
The Supreme Court allowed Texas' unconstitutional abortion ban to remain effect. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

On Friday morning, the Supreme Court issued its decisions in United States v. Texas and Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson.

In the US v. Texas decision, the Court dismissed the Biden administration’s lawsuit challenging Texas SB 8’s enforcement mechanism, basically saying the Court shouldn’t have accepted the case in the first place. Oof.

And in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, the Court ruled that providers could move forward with their SB 8 challenges against some—but not all—defendants. But the ban still remains in effect.

In this special reaction episode of Boom! Lawyered, hosts Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy break down the decisions and explain what they means for abortion access in Texas moving forward.

TL;DR: It’s a disaster. And to the surprise of no one, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote dissents that will be quoted for years to come.

Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that Boom! Lawyered is only made possible by the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating here.

And sign up for The Fallout, a weekly newsletter written by Jess that’s exclusively dedicated to covering every aspect of this unprecedented moment.

Transcript (pdf)