Resource: Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and coalition partners filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers and funds on July 13, 2021, challenging S.B. 8, a Texas law allowing private citizens to enforce a ban on abortion as early as six weeks in pregnancy—before many know they are pregnant. The ACLU’s challenge made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court three times in as many months. After hearing oral arguments in the case, the Court issued a decision on December 10, 2021, that ended the most promising pathways to blocking the ban. The Supreme Court’s decision makes it more difficult to obtain adequate relief from the courts and gives states the green light to ban abortion using bounty-hunting schemes. Texas’ abortion ban will remain in effect until relief can be secured from a court. In the Supreme Court’s 5-4 majority opinion issued in December, the Court ruled that the most significant part of the ACLU’s case must be dismissed, holding that the plaintiffs could not bring suit against the classes of state judges and clerks or the state attorney general. The Court ruled that a narrow portion of the case may proceed against the Texas Medical Board and other licensing authorities, but this will not provide widespread relief because it would not prevent bounty-hunter lawsuits from being filed. With this ruling, the case was sent back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.