Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21a85_5h25.pdf
Page Number: 5

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2021) 

5 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 
Opinion of SOTOMAYOR, J. 

since the law took effect.  Id., at *41.  The court explained 
that  most  abortion  patients  in  Texas  first  seek  care  more 
than six  weeks  after their  last  menstrual periods.   Id.,  at 
*2.    The  court  thus  found  that  S.  B.  8  has  prohibited  as 
many as 95% of abortions previously provided in the State.  
Id.,  at  *40;  see  Whole  Woman’s  Health,  594  U. S.,  at  ___ 
(SOTOMAYOR,  J.,  dissenting)  (slip  op.,  at  2)  (warning  that 
S. B. 8 would “immediately prohibi[t] care for at least 85% 
of Texas abortion patients and . . . force many abortion clin-
ics to close”). 
  On  a  human  level,  the  District  Court  relied  on  credible 
declarations  that  described  the  threat  of  liability  under  
S. B. 8 as “nothing short of agonizing” for abortion care pro-
viders.   2021  WL  4593319,  *38  (internal  quotation marks 
omitted).    Providers  are  “seriously  concerned  that  even 
providing  abortions  in  compliance  with  S.  B.  8  will  draw 
lawsuits from anti-abortion vigilantes or others seeking fi-
nancial  gain.”    Ibid.  (internal  quotation  marks  omitted).  
Patients are “devastated” to learn they cannot access care, 
and the “turmoil” caused by the Act leaves them “panicked, 
both for themselves and their loved ones.”  Id., at *40 (in-
ternal  quotation  marks  omitted).*    Even  among  the  few 
women who are able to receive abortion services in Texas, 
S. B. 8 pushes patients “to make a decision about their abor-
tion  before  they  are  truly  ready  to  do  so.”    Ibid.  (internal 
quotation marks omitted). 
  The District Court rejected the State’s claim that Texas 
residents  could  travel  to  other  States  to  access  abortion 

—————— 

* The harm to vulnerable populations is especially acute.  For example, 
because Texas’ judicial bypass process for minors seeking abortion care 
“cannot realistically happen” before six weeks after the last menstrual 
period, S. B. 8 forces pregnant minors who cannot confide in their fami-
lies (and unaccompanied migrant teenagers who cannot reach their fam-
ilies) to choose between “carry[ing] to term” and “tak[ing] matters into 
their own hands.”  2021 WL 4593319, *40, and n. 62 (internal quotation 
marks omitted).