Justice Kagan Sarcastically Refutes ‘Some Geniuses’ Denying SCOTUS Intervention in Texas Abortion Law
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan sarcastically refuted the notion that the Supreme Court cannot intervene in the Texas abortion law case.
The nation’s highest court heard arguments on Monday over whether abortion providers and the Department of Justice have standing to sue Texas over its abortion law, which prohibits abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is usually the case at six weeks of pregnancy unless the woman’s life is in danger. The oral arguments were not over whether the Texas law is constitutional.
That law appears to go against the landmark Roe v. Wade case, where the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that women can legally nationwide have an abortion at least during the first trimester in which thereafter it is up to the states to decide abortion laws as long as there’s an exception for when the mother’s life is in danger.
The Texas law allows for people to sue those who get or aid and abet an abortion in violation of the law. Those who are successful in court can receive at least $10,000 in judgments. Texas has argued that since public officials cannot enforce the abortion law, it cannot be challenged by the federal government and abortion providers.
During oral arguments, Kagan noted the 1908 case of Ex parte Young, where the Supreme Court ruled that state officials can be sued in federal court if they go against the Constitution.
Kagan said that the Texas law, “its purpose and its effect is to find the chink in the armor of Ex parte Young. That Ex parte Young set out a basic principle of how our government is supposed to work and help people can seek review of unconstitutional state laws.”
“And the fact that after all these many years, some geniuses came up with a way to evade the commands of that decision, as well as the command that the broader, even the broader, principle that states are not to nullify federal constitutional rights, and to say ‘Oh, we’ve never seen this before so we can’t do anything about it,’” she continued. “I guess I just don’t understand the argument.”
Listen above, via CSPAN.
