The Texas Supreme Court ruled on March 11 that state officials do not have the authority to enforce the state’s six-week abortion ban, which effectively ends the abortion clinics’ federal legal challenge to the law. The Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), bans abortions after a heartbeat is detected—usually around six weeks after conception—unless a medical emergency exists. It has no exception for pregnancies due to incest or rape. The law has a unique enforcement mechanism such that state officials have no role in enforcing it, but private citizens can file lawsuits against anyone who allegedly “aids and abets” in an abortion that violates the law. The exception is for individuals who caused the pregnancy through incest or rape, who cannot file such lawsuits. Because no state officials are involved in enforcing the law, abortion providers have found it difficult to bring legal challenges against particular individuals. Texas’s high court has nine justices, …