On Friday, October 22, the Supreme Court refused for the second time to even temporarily block the near-total abortion ban (SB8) that has been in effect since September 1 in the state of Texas.¹ Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor's dissent to this decision captures well the reality that confronts the six million plus women of child-bearing age in Texas:

There are women in Texas who became pregnant on or around the day that S. B. 8 took effect. As I write these words, some of those women do not know they are pregnant. When they find out, should they wish to exercise their constitutional right to seek abortion care, they will be unable to do so anywhere in their home State. Those with sufficient resources may spend thousands of dollars and multiple days anxiously seeking care from out-of-state providers so overwhelmed with Texas patients that they cannot adequately serve their own communities. Those without the ability to make this journey, whether due to lack of money or childcare or employment flexibility or the myriad other constraints that shape people’s day-to-day lives, may be forced to carry to term against their wishes or resort to dangerous methods of self-help. None of this is seriously in dispute.

Indeed, none of these facts are in dispute. Yet, the majority fascist Supreme Court has, for the second time, given the green light to depriving women of a right that is not only fundamental to their treatment as full human beings, but is supposed to be guaranteed by a long-standing precedent made by the very court they sit on!

Also on Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on November 1 over whether to allow the federal government and/or private plaintiffs (like abortion providers) to sue Texas and state officials to permanently enjoin (stop) the Texas Abortion Ban. The reason this is even up for debate is that Texas's Abortion Ban was drafted intentionally to evade judicial review (to make it difficult for the courts to stop the law) by outsourcing enforcement of the law to private citizens instead of the state. But, as I have written about previously, constitutional rights are supposed to be protected by the federal government against being violated not only by states, but also by private citizens and mobs.

If the Supreme Court decides against letting these lawsuits go forward, this will not only further endanger the lives and fundamental rights of women, it will undermine the rule of law² and constitutional protections with potentially much farther-reaching implications.

If the court decides to let these lawsuits go forward, which is the only just decision, the question of the ultimate fate of the Texas Abortion Ban will be kicked back down to the lower courts to consider. This could take some time. In the meantime, the Supreme Court is considering a case on December 1 that could potentially nullify abortion protections nationwide by overturning the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that first legalized abortion nationwide. If this happens, abortion will no longer be a constitutionally protected right and the lower courts will have no power to block the Texas Abortion Ban.

From a number of angles, women’s fundamental right to abortion—to not be forced to have a child against one's will and enslaved in that way—is under severe attack in this country. There is no reason to expect or rely on the courts to protect this right. It is imperative that people from many diverse parts of society wake up to the monumental danger we face and wage massive, society-wide resistance to refuse to let this assault on half of humanity go down.