June Medical Services LLC vs. Gee - Abortion

[dramallama]

Please tell me I'm not the only person on the planet frantically refreshing SCOTUSblog over this case today?

Context:

Roe v. Wade is Under Immediate Threat - Slate

Louisiana is staring down a future as an abortion desert - Jezebel

Today is a momentous day for abortion rights - New Republic

 

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision today on whether or not to stay a Louisiana law which will force all but one clinic in the state to close.  It is basically exactly like the Whole Women's Health vs Hellerstedt case that the court decided in 2016, with Anthony Kennedy serving as the 5th vote in the 5-4 decision to rule the Texas law in question an "undue burden" on women seeking first trimester abortions per the standards established in 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision.

On 2/1 Justice Samuel Alito issued a temporary administrative stay which kept the law from going into effect on 2/4, in order to give the justices time to review the filings.  The stay expires at 11:59pm tonight.  If the justices do not vote 5-4 to issue another stay, the law will go into effect and the court will be going against its own 2016 precedent from WWH v Hellerstedt, and states may consider themselves free to use TRAP laws to just regulate abortion clinics out of existence - in which case it won't matter if Roe v. Wade still officially stands or not, because what's a right if there are no clinics left to help you exercise it?

I don't have a good feeling about this and every minute that passes without a ruling tonight, I'm getting more and more worried.

Edited to add a link to the case on SCOTUSblog

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I didn't realize the stay ended today. I thought it was next week. I haven't seen updates about it today.

[dramallama]

Yeah,  today.  I am not a lawyer, just an amateur SCOTUS junkie/reproductive rights advocate, but I'm seeing some lawyery types on Twitter saying this delay makes them suspect they're going to deny issuing any further stays and release dissent(s) from at least one of the 4 liberal judges, possibly tomorrow.  

And that will be how access to legal first trimester abortion in large swaths of America ended - not with a bang, but a whimper.

[nelliebelle1197]

Oh damn. This will be a good directional on how far Roberts is willing to go.

[dramallama]

The waiting is making me sick to my stomach.  I'm all but convinced at this point that they're going to just let the stay expire and issue a formal denial tomorrow with written dissent(s) from RBG, Kagan, Sotomayor, and/or Breyer.  PROVE ME WRONG, DAMN IT!  *shakes fist in the vague direction of Washington DC*

[dramallama]

HOLY SHIT SCOTUS PROVED ME WRONG! Chief Justice Roberts switched sides from his vote in Hellerstedt to vote with the 4 liberals to grant the stay!

Spoiler

 

[Destiny]

Holy shit. Kavenaugh decided to actually follow the law.

[dramallama]

Kavanaugh dissented though?  It was 5-4 with Roberts, RBG, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan voting to grant the stay.

 

I have been so tense about this all day, now I feel like dancing on my roof.

 

However, a caveat:  if the court agrees to hear arguments in the case, Roberts could still vote to overturn WWH v Hellerstedt at that time.  It may not be over.  But for right now, in this moment, we have good news.