By 5-4 Vote, Supreme Court Refuses to Block Texas Abortion Law, Most Restrictive in Nation

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2021

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Late Wednesday night in an unsigned majority opinion, the Supreme Court declined to block a Texas law that prohibits any abortions after six weeks, making it the most restrictive in the nation. The law, which prohibits abortions even in the case of rape and incest, is not enforced by the state; instead it deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who performs or “aids and abets” an abortion procedure. Chief Justice John Roberts, siding with the minority, described the law “unusual” and “unprecedented” in its attempt to delegate enforcement to private citizens. And writing in dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the Court’s order “stunning” and criticized the majority for allowing the law to remain in effect while appeals are ongoing. We’ll talk about the Texas law, the latest developments and what this means for Roe v. Wade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort in Baja, California, just an hour from San Diego.
0:07.6	Three, four, and seven-night summer packages include fitness classes, hiking, live music, mindfulness, and culinary adventures, featuring fruits and veggies straight off the vine.
0:18.9	Special rates and offers are available for summer stays and first-time guests.
0:23.8	Saver summer at Rancho LaPuerta.com.
0:28.3	Greetings, boomtown.
0:29.7	The Xfinity Wi-Fi is booming!
0:32.0	Xfinity combines the power of internet and mobile.
0:35.2	So we've all got lightning fast speeds at home and on the go.
0:38.8	Learn more at Xfinity.com.
0:40.6	Restrictions apply.
0:41.3	Xfinity internet required.
0:42.4	Actual speeds vary.
0:44.6	From KQED.
0:47.7	From KQED.
0:49.6	From KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:00.8	Last night, the Supreme Court took its biggest step yet toward dismantling women's ability to access abortions.
1:07.2	The majority decision unsigned declined to block a Texas law that even Chief Justice
1:12.1	John Roberts described as unusual and unprecedented.
1:15.8	While this is not technically the fall of Roe v. Wade, it will have both severe on-the-ground
1:20.0	consequences and portends more monumental decisions could be coming from the conservative
1:24.9	court.
1:25.9	In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that a majority of justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.