La Jornada - Supreme Court, for challenging anti-abortion law in Texas

Washington. A majority of the US Supreme Court said yesterday it would allow abortion providers to file a legal challenge to a Texas law that nearly ended the practice in the nation's second-largest state after six weeks of pregnancy.

But it was unclear how quickly the court will issue a ruling, issue an order blocking the law that took effect two months ago, or ask providers to ask a lower court to stay it.

Four of the nine members of the Supreme Court – the president, John Roberts, and the three progressive justices – previously expressed their desire to freeze this legislation that has drastically limited the right of Texans to terminate their pregnancy.

After nearly three hours of oral arguments, two conservative justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, also expressed skepticism about the new rule.

“The judges seemed to recognize that Texas's position is extreme and threatens the foundations of our constitutional democracy,” Marc Hearron, an attorney for Whole Woman's Health, which operates four clinics in Texas, said after the hearing.

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“We are comforted by the strong questions raised, but the reality on the ground is that patients continue to suffer,” said Julie Murray, an attorney for Planned Parenthood.

Defenders and opponents of abortion gathered yesterday in Washington in front of the Court's headquarters, with banners reading irreconcilable messages: "Abortion is essential" or "Let their hearts beat."

As of September 1, abortion is prohibited in Texas as soon as the heartbeat of the embryo is perceived, that is, around six weeks of pregnancy, even in cases of incest or rape.

The highest court in the United States recognized in 1973 the right of women to abort and specified in 1992 that it applies whenever the fetus is not viable outside the uterus, that is, around 22 weeks of gestation.