Texas’s Abortion Law Is Unprecedented, But the Supreme Court Isn’t Treating It That Way

Texas’s highly restrictive abortion law is still on the books — at least for now. That’s one of the most important takeaways after the Supreme Court released an opinion on Friday morning about the fate of Texas’s ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, which contains an unusual enforcement mechanism that left the courts in doubt about how its constitutionality could be challenged. 

The ruling wasn’t really a victory for supporters of Texas’s law, since the justices ruled 8-1 that abortion providers can proceed with a lawsuit against some state officials.1 But it was...