BREAKING: By a 5–4 vote, with Roberts joining the liberals, the Supreme Court REFUSES to block Texas' six-week abortion ban.
Opinions here: s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentclo…
Opinions here: s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentclo…
By a 5–4 vote, the Supreme Court just allowed Texas to enforce a law that prohibits abortions after six weeks, with no exception for rape or incest. Roe v. Wade is, functionally, overturned. Justice Sotomayor all but says it. s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentclo… 
Sotomayor: "The Act is a breathtaking act of defiance ... The Court should not be so content to ignore its constitutional obligations to protect not only the rights of women, but also the sanctity of its precedents and of the rule of law." s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentclo…
Make no mistake: Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett are responsible for ending Roe v. Wade. Chief Justice John Roberts explicitly announced that he would block Texas' law. Kavanaugh and Barrett cast the decisive votes allowing the six-week abortion ban to take effect.
Kagan, dissenting: "The majority’s decision is emblematic of too much of this Court’s shadow-docket decisionmaking—which every day becomes more unreasoned, inconsistent, and impossible to defend." supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Kagan, who sounds furious: The majority "barely bothers to explain its conclusion" and "rewards Texas's scheme to insulate its law from judicial review by deputizing private parties to carry out unconstitutional restrictions on the state's behalf." supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Sotomayor, dissenting: "In effect, the Texas Legislature has deputized the State's citizens as bounty hunters, offering them cash prizes for civilly prosecuting their neighbors' medical procedures." supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Again: Roberts, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan all wrote separate dissents highlighting different aspects of their disagreement with the majority (which partially explains the delay).
Didn't matter. Barrett's fifth vote made all the difference. supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Didn't matter. Barrett's fifth vote made all the difference. supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
It is simply impossible to say that Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land. The Supreme Court just allowed Texas to enforce a six-week abortion ban—giving other states a roadmap to do the same. Roe is no longer good law. The right to abortion has been functionally overturned.
Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett killed Roe v. Wade in an unsigned, two-page order issued at midnight on a Wednesday. The brazenness is simply extraordinary. I expected something bad, but I am still stunned.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
PS The link in my first few tweets appears to have crashed, but this one works: supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Five justices effectively ended the constitutional right to abortion in the most cowardly manner imaginable—through an unsigned, one-paragraph 5–4 decision released at midnight. Sotomayor called it "stunning," but that is an understatement. It is shameful.
slate.com/news-and-polit…
slate.com/news-and-polit…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
