Abortion before the court of public opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court is allowing the Texas abortion law to stand — for now.

The issue is always being tried in the court of public opinion. The debate remains heated, and it’s an extremely personal issue.

The Texas law bans abortion after six weeks once a heartbeat can be detected. Hence the name — “heartbeat law.” The measure is full of holes and is sure to be overturned, revised or rendered moot when the court takes up abortion in the coming year.

That’s when another generation of young men and women will hear all sides, from reproductive rights to the rights of the unborn. Some issues need to be revisited and that’s exactly what will happen in the court’s next session when the justices hear a Mississippi case that bans abortion after 15 weeks.

The Democrats have already made the Texas abortion decision — 5-4 by the court to leave it in place — as a rallying cry for the midterms and the 2024 election. “This law is so extreme it does not even allow for exceptions in the case of rape or incest,” President Biden said in a statement.

That’s true. The Texas law makes abortion illegal during the first trimester without exceptions for rape or incest. Any private citizen can sue a woman undergoing an abortion, or anyone helping her do so, even down to the person giving her a ride to the clinic.

If they win, they get at least $10,000 in damages, and the law is structured so that it is very costly for abortion providers to defend against.

That seems fraught with peril. The court must step in and fix this.

It smacks of vigilante legislation. Some advocates for sexual assault victims argue a rapist could even sue over his victim seeking an abortion. That’s a dangerous scenario that can only lead to chaos.

Many abhor abortion, mostly on religious grounds, but there can be no loopholes for sexual abusers.

The court needs to keep examining this and repair it. In his dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts said the court should have issued a stay and stopped the law from going into effect.

“The statutory scheme before the Court is not only unusual, but unprecedented. The legislature has imposed a prohibition on abortions after roughly six weeks, and then essentially delegated enforcement of that prohibition to the populace at large. The desired consequence appears to be to insulate the State from responsibility for implementing and enforcing the regulatory regime,” Roberts wrote. He was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.

Roberts added he wanted to block the Texas law to determine if the state “can avoid responsibility for its laws in such a manner.”

He assured all that the book is not closed on the Texas law.

“Although the Court does not address the constitutionality of this law, it can of course promptly do so when that question is properly presented,” Roberts added.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito Jr., Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett did not rule on the “constitutionality” of the law, they just left it in place.

Like America, the court is deeply divided when it comes to the question of abortion. We haven’t heard the last on this issue. Politicians and health care providers will keep the opinions coming, but so too will conservative and religious groups.

When does life start? How do you best protect it? Those questions are back before the court of public opinion.