US Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments on Texas Abortion Law on November 1
Oct 22, 2021
Washington [United States of America], October 22 (ANI/Sputnik): The US Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on November 1 in the case of whether the federal government can sue the state of Texas over the legislation banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, court documents revealed on Friday.
"The petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment is granted... The case is set for oral argument on Monday, November 1, 2021," the court filing said.
This is the second time the Supreme Court declined to act immediately halt the Texas abortion ban.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, according to court documents, dissented in the decision to not take immediate action to halt the Texas abortion ban. She said that every day that the Supreme Court fails to block the ban is devastating for individual women and for the US constitutional system.
The law went into effect in September but the US Justice Department sued Texas seeking a temporary freeze. The Biden administration argues that abortions are protected under the US constitution after the Supreme Court's decision in the Roe v. Wade case in 1973 that effectively legalized abortions throughout the United States.
Opponents of the law say that banning abortions at six weeks is equivalent to prohibiting the procedure given that 90 per cent of women turn to hospitals for abortions later in their pregnancy. The previous abortion ban threshold in Texas stood at 20 weeks. (ANI/Sputnik)