10 things you need to know today: September 2, 2021

Divided Supreme Court declines to block Texas 6-week abortion ban, Ida's remnants disrupt travel in N.Y. and N.J., and more

Pro-choice demonstrators in Texas
(Image credit: Sergio Flores/Getty Images)

1. A sharply split Supreme Court refuses to block Texas abortion law

A sharply divided Supreme Court late Wednesday ruled 5-4 against blocking Texas' new law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The law, which took effect Wednesday, lets people file lawsuits against any clinic or doctor who provides abortions after six weeks, effectively banning 85 percent of abortions. The conservative majority said the challenge by abortion providers "raised serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the Texas law at issue," but failed to justify blocking it. The court's three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the Texas law was a "flagrantly unconstitutional" attempt to "circumvent" the court's precedents, which clearly establish the right to abortion up to fetal viability at 22 to 24 weeks.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.