As a panel of federal judges on the US 5th Circuit Court is wrestling with a decision in the lawsuit against Texas’ new abortion law andattorneys for pro-abortion groups are exploring what comes next, which could mean taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court or seeking a new panel at the circuit court level.
Two of the judges on the 5th Circuit panel are the same justices that threw out a lower court’s injunction, which allowed the hospital admitting privileges requirement to take effect while both sides waited for a trial and decision.
Almost immediately after oral arguments had ended, attorneys like Rebecca Robertson with the ACLU of Texas began exploring the option of what comes next.
"Well, there are a couple options for either side," she said. "One possibility is we only talked to three judges of the 5th Circuit and it’s a much larger court. So one possibility is to ask the entire court to look at an issue."
The other option is taking the full case back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"And as you know, this case has already been at the Supreme Court even if only briefly on the condition of it’s stay, so that’s certainly a possibility later down the road," Robertson said.
Robertson said while it seems that other states were able to resolve similar abortion restrictions at the federal district court and even state court level, Texas asked for an expedited process and that many of those states are now entering into the same appeals process.
