This week, we have witnessed first-hand an alarming “shift” in the Supreme Court and the way that the GOP has placed its fingers on the scales of justice to serve its own ends.

This week Texas Governor Gregg Abbott (R) signed into law SB 8, which bans abortions after the 6^th week of pregnancy. It took effect after the Supreme Court refused to grant an emergency request from reproductive rights groups to block its passage. This ruling by the High Court stacked with three Trump appointees is no surprise, but definitely foreshadows future attacks on abortion rights.

SB 8 is much different and more sinister than previous anti-abortion bills that have emerged in other “red” states because it openly violates Roe v. Wade, and is written in such a way as to prevent courts from blocking it before it takes effect and is declared as law. Clearly, SB 8 was drafted to intentionally frustrate lawsuits challenging its constitutionality.

The stakes for both women’s and reproductive rights are now higher than ever. Many women may not even know that they are pregnant at 6 weeks, and according to the abortion providers who are suing to block SB 8, at least 85 % of abortions in Texas take place after the sixth week of pregnancy.

The issue, however, extends way beyond abortion. It involves a conservative Supreme Court that has turned its back on Roe v. Wade and has accepted the judicial gymnastics of SB 8 to frustrate judicial interpretation and review. Now that the Supreme Court appears to have embraced this malarkey, other states will no doubt become emboldened and move to enact all kinds of unconstitutional laws that cannot be challenged in court until after those laws take effect.

The Supreme Court has failed in its duty to protect a decades-old law protecting the right to an abortion. The High Court has shown its true colors and has shifted more to the right.

SB 8 is especially “shifty” in that it restricts state enforcement of the law, but allows for private civil action. In one section it reads that “any person, other than an officer or employee of a state or local governmental entity in this state,” may bring a private lawsuit against anyone who performs an abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, or against anyone who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion.” Plaintiffs who win in such lawsuits can receive at least $10,000 from the defendant.

SB 8 makes a legal detour by preventing state officials from directly enforcing the law, so a plaintiff cannot sue the state directly. Kind of like Pontius Pilate washing his hands, and letting the crowd decide.

Although this tactic doesn’t prevent groups or plaintiffs from challenging SB 8, now that it has been voted into law, abortion providers, including anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion will undoubtedly be slapped with costly lawsuits. Opponents point out that the law is vague in its definition of anyone who “aids or abets,” meaning anyone, even the Uber driver who gives a woman a lift for an appointment, may be named in a lawsuit. No doubt defendants will be burdened with the threat of having to pay 10K to anyone who brings a lawsuit against them.

If the Supreme Court continues to do nothing in this case, they are moving the goalposts and rewriting the rules of jurisprudence. Their ruling did not involve a full briefing or any oral arguments, only a short, closed-door session.

The shift won’t end here.

The Supreme Court could bless other shady tactics that could be used to undermine anybody’s constitutional rights. For example, what if New Mexico passed an SB 8-style law allowing private individuals to bring lawsuits seeking a $10,000 bounty against anyone who owns a gun? The GOP in the Land of Enchantment would go bonkers.

Procedural rules for laws and litigation exist for a reason, to ensure that every litigant has an opportunity to have their case heard, even if the litigant may lose. These rules ensure that courts don’t hand down lackadaisical rulings that could impact millions of people, not to mention endanger the health and lives of millions of women.

Should the red-shifted Supreme Court overturn or significantly curtail Roe v. Wade in 2022, I expect that more red states will enact near-total abortion bans similar to SB 8. In the past, 6-week abortion bans have been enacted by at least a dozen states, but they were blocked by the courts as a violation of the Constitution. However, the fact that Texas leaves enforcement up to citizens makes it more difficult to challenge in court, and it sets up the Supreme Court to do an end-run around abortion rights.