Hours after the Supreme Court finished its term on Monday, the justices put on hold the Fifth Circuit’s ruling allowing Texas’ draconian anti-abortion law to go into effect. The decision grants a last-minute reprieve to over half of Texas’ remaining eighteen abortion clinics. Under the new law—which forces clinics to meet incredibly stringent standards unrelated to women’s health—all but seven of these clinics would have been forced to close.
The court stayed the ruling by a 5-4 vote, with Justice Anthony Kennedy joining the liberals to grant a reprieve. Unsurprisingly, the more conservative justices would have let the law go into effect, effectively shuttering a majority of Texas clinics. The court will decide whether or not to hear arguments in the case (and issue a ruling on the merits) in the fall.
