WASHINGTON – Following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to stay a district court decision enjoining S.B. 8, a law that infringes on the constitutional right to a pre-viability abortion, Constitutional Accountability Center President Elizabeth Wydra issued the following statement:

We are disappointed by the Fifth Circuit’s 2-1 decision to stay Judge Pitman’s thoughtful ruling enjoining S.B. 8.  S.B. 8 is a brazen and unprecedented attack on the supremacy of federal law and the constitutional rights of Texas’s people, and there is no doubt that the United States has the power to sue to defend itself and its people who have been harmed by Texas’s flagrantly unconstitutional law. Indeed, the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized the federal government’s right to sue to vindicate the public interest, even when Congress has not passed a law explicitly authorizing it to do so.  Moreover, given the unique statutory design of S.B. 8 and its effects on the fundamental right to abortion, recognizing the United States’ right to sue here would vindicate the constitutional principles of separation of powers and federalism—principles that S.B. 8 has undermined.

The Fifth Circuit was wrong to grant the stay today, and we expect the federal government to ask the Supreme Court to lift it.  The Supreme Court should do so promptly.

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Resources:

CAC case page in United States v. Texas: https://www.theusconstitution.org/litigation/united-states-v-texas-sb8-litigation/

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Constitutional Accountability Center is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history. Visit CAC’s website at www.theusconstitution.org.

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