California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) responded Saturday to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to strike down a controversial Texas abortion law by announcing plans to adopt that law's legal framework to gun control, Reuters reports.
In an 8-1 decision, the court left Texas' law in place but allowed challenges from the state's abortion providers to proceed.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Texas law allows private citizens to sue abortion providers in civil court but provides no enforcement role for the state's criminal justice system. According to The Wall Street Journal, this unusual piece of legislation was designed specifically to "insulate" it from "federal court review by assigning enforcement power to private litigants."
Newsom's proposal would allow private citizens to sue manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of assault weapons and ghost gun kits.
Earlier this month, Rick Henderson wrote a piece for The Week warning of the potential dangers of "hacking" the Constitution in this way. He argued that the Texas law "could be replicated to directly attack any federal constitutional right, including many less controversial than abortion."
-
Are Trump’s peace deals unraveling?Today’s Big Question Violence flares where the president claimed success
-
Political cartoons for December 15Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include Time's person of the year, naughty and nice list, and more
-
Who is fuelling the flames of antisemitism in Australia?Today’s Big Question Deadly Bondi Beach attack the result of ‘permissive environment’ where warning signs were ‘too often left unchecked’
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
