Following the U.S. Supreme Court's Wednesday decision not to block Texas' ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, one of the most restrictive laws nationwide on the procedure went into effect. Activists in and outside of Texas are reeling from the near-total ban.
In a 5-to-4 vote, the justices denied an emergency request to put the law on hold while the legal challenges to the law continue. The high court said in an unsigned opinion, "we stress that we do not purport to resolve definitively any jurisdictional or substantive claim in the applicants' lawsuit."
The bill, S.B. 8, allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs an abortion or helps someone get an abortion after the six-week point of pregnancy. It also offers plaintiffs to collect $10,000 in damages. If the plaintiff succeeds, the defendant is also required to pay legal fees. However, if a defendant is found not guilty, the plaintiff is not required to pay legal fees.
The law also prohibits cases from being transferred between jurisdictions.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, that the decision was "stunning."
"Presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny," Sotomayor wrote, "a majority of justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand."
Abortion activists and health care providers expressed similar opinions.
Amy Hagstrom Miller said Texans have been robbed of the ability to make their own health care decisions. Miller is the president and CEO of Whole Woman's Health and Whole Woman's Health Alliance.
"As Senate Bill 8 nearly closes down abortion care today, our ability to provide the best health care for our patients has been turned over to self-appointed vigilantes and whoever holds the power at any moment. Anti-abortion politicians in Texas can no longer hide behind the guise of health or safety -- this is an abortion ban, plain and simple," she said.
California Democrats have tied abortion access to the Sept. 14 recall election, worrying that whoever might replace Gov. Gavin Newsom could chip away at abortion rights.
"There's no question that if a Republican is elected, access to abortion in California will be restricted," President of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California Jodi Hicks said at a press conference in July, according to the Orange County Register.
Newsom released a statement Wednesday expressing his outrage that the Supreme Court allowed the abortion ban to take effect.
"Silently, in the dead of night, the Supreme Court has eviscerated the fundamental protection of a woman's right to choose that Roe v. Wade has protected for the last 50 years. In California, we will ensure that women continue to have access to critical health care services, including abortion" read the statement, in part.
While California Republicans tend to be more pro-choice than elsewhere in the country, it is not clear if all of the 46 recall challengers would seek to maintain abortion rights in the state. GOP frontrunner Larry Elder, a conservative talk radio personality, has spoken repeatedly on the topic of abortion, calling Roe v. Wade "one of the worst decisions that the Supreme Court ever handed down."
Currently, California has some of the strongest abortion protections in the country. However, the concern over possible future restrictions appears to be heightened following the Supreme Court's decision on the Texas law.
Abortion activists, especially in southern and midwestern states, have become accustomed to working around restrictive laws, but SB 8 has already had a seismic effect. Texas clinics will have to turn away patients if there is any cardiac activity detected in their ultrasounds. Planned Parenthood of South Texas had to stop offering abortions due to the ban.
Anna Rupani, co-executive director of Fund Texas Choice, however, is undeterred.
"We've helped our Texas communities navigate the logistical barriers as a result of reduced abortion access for years -- it is the reason FTC came to being -- and we will continue advocating for legal, equitable and accessible abortion services for all Texans," said Rupani.
According to the Nation, Rupani was on the phone with hotels in California and Florida shortly after the ban went into effect trying to negotiate bulk rates on hotel rooms. The rooms are for people who need abortions after the six-week mark. They will have to travel out of state, stay overnight and then return to Texas.
Sylvia Ghazarian the executive director of Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a non-profit that helps people access abortion, said that the group would keep working because "abortion care can't wait."
