Texas recently passed law SB-8, severely restricting abortions. Importantly, it was specifically written to bypass our federal laws and citizens’ Constitutional protections. Lower courts put it on hold until it could be properly scrutinized. Five Supreme Court justices overruled that hold.
Nearly 120 current and former prosecutors, former state attorneys general, federal and state court judges, U.S. attorneys and U.S. Department of Justice officials protested that Texas SB-8 undermines our entire rule-of-law. Yet, five Supreme Court justices dismissed their extreme concern.
Major issues include:
■SB-8 delegates law enforcement authority to private citizens to circumvent legal protections.
■SB-8 provides a $10,000 “bounty” plus legal expenses for “successful” civil lawsuits!
■SB-8 states that a citizen doesn’t have to have ‘standing’ (personal involvement) to sue, overturning legal precedent and turning this serious issue into a carnival of fortune-seeking.
■SB-8 lawsuits would require public exposure of a woman’s medical history, violating federal HIPPA privacy protections.
■SB-8 with its end-run around federal laws and the US Constitution, threatens the legitimacy of both. It is mind-blowing that five Supreme Court justices opted to let it stand. This is not about abortion, it’s about the corrosive legal impact of this Texas law. It should be blocked immediately until it can be analyzed intensely for violations of established precedent.
The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. There is no appeal to a higher authority. The only check on Supreme Court justices is the U.S. House of Representatives’ power to impeach (the Senate determines guilt).
I don’t call for impeachment lightly but when justices won’t even hit ‘pause’ on this legal chicanery to allow for judicial scrutiny, they’re not fulfilling their fundamental role to protect the legitimacy of our legal system. I’m calling for Kuster and Pappas to invoke impeachment proceedings today.
Tricia Saenger
Temple