Gorsuch deals abortion providers another setback by sending Texas SB8 lawsuit to a conservative appeals court

By CNN Newsource

Published December 16, 2021 9:08 AM

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter

In the latest setback for abortion clinics in Texas, Justice Neil Gorsuch said Thursday that a conservative federal appeals court should handle the next steps of litigation concerning the state’s six-week ban, a move that will likely leave women seeking abortions in the state in legal limbo for weeks if not months.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court allowed the controversial Texas law to remain on the books, but it did clear a narrow path for providers to try to sue a small subset of Texas licensing officials to try to block enforcement. After the decision, lawyers for the providers asked Gorsuch, who penned the decision, to send the case back down to a district court judge who originally ruled against the law, SB8, so that the proceedings could start up again in short order.

But Gorsuch rejected that request Thursday and sent the case instead to the conservative 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals. That court previously allowed the law to remain on the books and is now likely to send the case to the Texas Supreme Court to resolve questions concerning the enforcement authority of the licensing officials. That process could take months.

Gorsuch, in a brief order did grant the providers request to bypass the normal 25-day waiting period and send the paperwork immediately to the lower court.

In the end, it means a decision concerning the fate of the Texas law could now come after the Supreme Court issues an opinion in a separate case out of Mississippi that is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade next summer.