Buzz Feed News
By Zoe Tillman, Nicole Fallert
September 1, 2021
WASHINGTON — A Texas law banning abortions in the state at 6 weeks of pregnancy — and leaving it up to private citizens to enforce it — went into effect Wednesday after the US Supreme Court took no immediate action the night before to block it.
As of 12:01 a.m. Texas time on Wednesday, the justices had made no ruling on the matter, allowing one of the strictest state abortion laws in the country, known as SB 8, to go forward while a constitutional challenge is pending in the lower courts. The justices may still rule on the law, but just allowing it to go into effect, however briefly, marks a monumental shift in abortion rights in the United States. The case had reached the justices on an emergency basis over the weekend after an appeals court stopped a federal judge in Austin from deciding whether to temporarily block the law before the Sept. 1 start date.