Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-463_3ebh.pdf
Page Number: 9.0

4 

WHOLE WOMAN’S HEALTH v. JACKSON 

Opinion of the Court 

the  petitioners  asked  us  to  enjoin  any  enforcement  of 
S. B. 8.  And given the statute’s approaching effective date, 
they asked us to rule within two days.  The Court took up 
the  application  and,  in  the  abbreviated  time  available  for 
review, concluded that the petitioners’ submission failed to 
identify a basis in existing law sufficient to justify disturb-
ing the Court of Appeals’ decision denying injunctive relief.  
Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, 594 U. S. ___ (2021). 
  After  that  ruling,  the  petitioners  filed  a  second  emer-
gency  request.    This  time  they  asked  the  Court  to  grant 
certiorari before judgment to resolve the defendants’ inter-
locutory appeals in the first instance, without awaiting the 
views of the Fifth Circuit.  This Court granted the petition-
ers’  request  and  set  the  case  for  expedited  briefing  and 
argument.  595 U. S. ___ (2021). 

II 
  Because  this  Court  granted  certiorari  before  judgment, 
we  effectively  stand  in  the  shoes  of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  
See United States v. Nixon, 418 U. S. 683, 690–692 (1974); 
S. Shapiro, K. Geller, T. Bishop, E. Hartnett, D. Himmel-
farb, Supreme Court Practice 2-11 (11th ed. 2019).  In this 
case,  that means  we must  review  the  defendants’  appeals 
challenging  the  District  Court’s  order  denying  their  mo-
tions to dismiss.  As with any interlocutory appeal, our re-
view  is  limited  to  the  particular  orders  under  review  and 
any other ruling “inextricably intertwined with” or “neces-
sary to ensure meaningful review of ” them.  Swint v. Cham-
bers County Comm’n, 514 U. S. 35, 51 (1995).  In this pre-
liminary  posture,  the  ultimate  merits  question—whether 
S. B. 8 is consistent with the Federal Constitution—is not 
before the Court.  Nor is the wisdom of S. B. 8 as a matter 
of public policy. 

A 
  Turning  to  the  matters  that  are  properly  put  to  us,  we