Reply #4: This Law Is Being Written Specifically So The First Doctor Busted Will Take It Up

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Notice how they're singling out the doctors? Wanna know why? Because in order to get to the United States Supreme Court, you first have to be convicted in your local court, appeal, make it through the Appellate Court, and THEN take it up on cert. to the Supreme Court (often you'd even have an additional stop in there at the State Supreme Court level too). Do you think average Jane on the street, who's having an abortion, is going to have enough money to pursue a claim all the way up to the Supreme Court? No way. But who would? A DOCTOR would.

More to the point of your question, can a State Legislature pass a law like this? Yes, they can pass anything they want. If it's unconstitutional, the Courts will quickly overturn it. So yes, I agree with the earlier posters that this is a ridiculously transparent attempt to get abortion in front of the Supreme Court again in the hope that they'll overturn Roe v. Wade. My guess is that they won't, even if they accept the cert. (and even THAT'S not a guarantee). Let's face it, the abortion issue has been decided, and I would guess that the fact pattern in whatever case goes up under this new law is going to be factually almost identical to Roe. Generally speaking, the Court won't even agree to hear cases where an issue has already been decided and the fact patterns are similar. But in this case, it will depend on the makeup of the Court and how blatantly they want to make their agenda known.

This is by no means a slam dunk. The new law, if it even passes, won't go into effect for another year so. It will then take another year or more to find the first doctor to charge. THAT case will drag through the State Court for over a year. Then there's the Appeals process. My best guess is that even if all the pieces fall into place, this won't even make it to the Supreme Court for probably 3-5 years or more. By then, the Court could look completely different. Hopefully Scalia will be off the bench by then, and maybe another Justice or two, and their replacements will be Obama appointees, which means the 5-4 conservative advantage will be gone.