Thu Dec 16, 2021 – 3:59 pm EST
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Days after declining to overturn the Texas Heartbeat Act, a broad pro-life measure which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, the U.S. Supreme Court has sent the case back to a lower court which previously backed the law.
The move came after the Court rejected a bid to overturn the Texas law on Friday, opting to leave the life-saving legislation in place pending further challenges.
In its Thursday decision, signed by Trump-appointee Justice Neil M. Gorsuch who drafted the majority opinion, the Supreme Court put the pro-life law back in the hands of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which has already upheld the legislation in several prior rulings, Newsmax reported.
The Texas Heartbeat Act, or Texas S.B. 8, requires abortionists to screen for a preborn baby’s heartbeat and prohibits abortion if a heartbeat can be heard (generally as early as six weeks), with exceptions only for medical emergencies. Effectively banning nearly all abortions in the Lone Star State, the Texas law relies upon a unique enforcement mechanism which allows private citizens to sue abortionists who perform abortions
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at LifeSite News
The views expressed in this news alert by the author do not directly represent that of The Christian Journal or its editors