On the heels of last night’s awesomely inspiring #TexasWomenForever fundraiser — which raised $53,000 IN ONE NIGHT (!!!!!!) for abortion access — the Supreme Court has rejected an emergency application asking it to block a Texas law that requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Part of this law, HB 2, was blocked by a Federal Court judge on October 28, only to be overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals three days later.

The Supreme Court’s decision, 5 to 4, leaves 24 counties in Texas without abortion clinics. Lone Star State? More like Lone Clinic State.

Naturally, Justice Scalia led the anti-choice charge, writing that the challenges to the Texas law had not met a procedural heavy burden:

“Reasonable minds can perhaps disagree about whether the court of appeals should have granted a stay in this case,” Justice Scalia wrote. “But there is no doubt that the applicants have not carried their heavy burden of showing that doing so was a clear violation of accepted legal standards — which do not include a special ‘status quo’ standard for laws affecting abortion.”

The fight is far from over, however. According to the New York Times, “the appeals court will hear arguments in the case in January, and either side may appeal its decision to the Supreme Court.” Here’s to hoping the third time’s the charm.

Categories: Politics

Tags: #TexasWomenForever, Abortion, Antonin Scalia, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Texas, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, United States Supreme Court