The Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday allowing the Texas abortion ban to remain in effect for now while also allowing abortion providers to sue.
The procedural ruling is not the final ruling on the law’s constitutionality, allowing the federal courts to review the law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and allows individuals to bring suit in state court against abortion providers.
“The Court concludes that the petitioners may pursue a pre-enforcement challenge against certain of the named defendants but not others,” the court, led by Justice Neil Gorsuch, wrote in the decision before the law goes into effect.
“In the abbreviated time available for review, the Court concluded that the petitioners’ filings failed to identify a basis in existing law that could justify disturbing the Fifth Circuit’s decision to deny injunctive relief,” the court added.
Gorsuch was joined by Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh.
Justice Clarence Thomas joined the court’s controlling opinion in part and dissented in part, arguing the abortion provider’s suit should be dismissed entirely. He argued “there is no freestanding constitutional right to pre-enforcement review in federal court.”
The court dismissed a challenge from the Justice Department, meaning only individual suits will go forward.
The court, which recently heard oral arguments on the Mississippi abortion law, also dismissed a challenge from the Department of Justice against the Texas law Friday.
READ THIS NEXT: