https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58426145
Just because the court declined to pass judgement on the merits of the Texas law doesn't mean the court's ruling won't have an immediate knock-on effect. Texas appears to have found a way around quick judicial review of constitutionally questionable laws.
The state law outsources enforcement of the abortion ban to private citizens, who can file lawsuits against abortion providers and individuals who "aid and abet" the procedure - collecting $10,000 (£7,230) in damages for each case they win. With no government official or entity enforcing the ban, the Supreme Court majority held, there's no one for opponents of the law to sue until those private cases start showing up in court.
The tactic doesn't have to be limited to abortion, either. One can imagine liberal states passing legislation allowing citizen enforcement of handgun bans, global warming regulations or vaccine mandates.
What an interesting form of democracy. Instead of an impersonal government slamming down the same laws on everyone everywhere, the citizens decide which they'll enforce and which they won't.
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