The Supreme Court's abortion ruling is a 'time bomb' for Republicans to use later: legal expert

In a column for Slate, legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern warned that Friday's Supreme Court majority decision on the restrictive Texas abortion law contains a blueprint for conservative Republicans to fashion new laws that would get the approval of the conservative-leaning court.

With Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, "The Court should have put an end to this madness months ago, before S. B. 8 first went into effect. It failed to do so then, and it fails again today," Stern noted that the majority decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch is worded in such a way that conservatives can take heart that Roe v. Wade will be overturned at a later date after more legal challenges.

"There is a vast chasm between the two blocs in this case. The five most conservative justices appear to view S.B. 8 as a one-off, a desperate attempt to evade a decision (Roe v. Wade) that they themselves probably view as illegitimate," Stern wrote. "The four other justices see S.B. 8 as a direct threat to the Supreme Court’s authority to “say what the law is” by shielding constitutional liberties from state infringement. It seems the majority is troubled just enough to carve a path around some of S.B. 8’s blockades—but its solution is a ticket good for one ride only."

Noting that Gorsuch threw a bone to woman's healthcare providers by allowing them to file for injunctive relief -- albeit under very limited circumstances -- Stern said that he also provided a path for anti-choice activists inside and outside government to go forward.

READ MORE: Sotomayor unloads on the Supreme Court for betraying the Constitution in scathing response to Texas ‘madness’

Writing, "Texas can pass nearly identical legislation that eliminates the powers of 'executive licensing officials' and, apparently, lock providers out of federal court once again," the legal analyst pointed out that a flood of copycat bills are sitting and waiting in multiple conservative states.

"Gorsuch has given legislators a road map to ensure that they can fully insulate their legislation from federal court review. He and his hard-right colleagues appear to believe that blue states won’t have the spine to deploy these tricks against rights favored by conservatives, like the right to bear arms," he wrote.

"Friday’s decision has alarming ramifications for the principle that states may not undermine fundamental rights by outsourcing enforcement to bounty hunters. There is nothing in the ruling to stop Republican legislators from deploying a refined version of Texas’ strategy," he suggested before warning, "To the contrary, these legislators now have a blueprint for keeping their unconstitutional laws out of federal court indefinitely. The majority has disabled a time bomb—then given Texas instructions on which wires to reconnect."

You can read his whole piece here.