Justice Sotomayor Tears Into Supreme Court’s ‘Madness’ on Abortion: The Court ‘Betrays’ Our System of Government

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor went off on the Supreme Court for refusing to stop Texas’ highly restrictive abortion law, saying the Court has betrayed the United States’ “constitutional system of government.”

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that abortion providers who had already sued the state over the abortion law, titled SB 8, would be able to proceed with part of their cases.

While Justice Clarence Thomas was the only member of the court to dissent in the 8-1 ruling,  Sotomayor took issue with the Court’s failure to halt the law altogether.

Sotomayor, along with two other liberal members of the Court, Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, included a separate argument to clarify their overall disapproval:

“The Court should have put an end to this madness months ago, before S. B. 8 first went into effect. It failed to do so then, and it fails again today,” Sotomayor wrote. “By foreclosing suit against state-court officials and the state attorney general, the Court effectively invites other States to refine S. B. 8’s model for nullifying federal rights. The Court thus betrays not only the citizens of Texas, but also our constitutional system of government.”

SB 8, which places boundless restrictions on nearly all abortions after six weeks — essentially two weeks after one’s first missed period — first took effect on Sept. 1.

The bill does not grant exemption to victims of rape and incest and also puts any person who aided the procedure, including clinic workers and drivers who transported those receiving their abortions, at legal risk.