Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo
- A restrictive abortion law went into effect on Wednesday in Texas.
- The Supreme Court refused to block the law in a 5-4 ruling.
- A GOP senator said they'll eventually "swat it" away and that it's being used to distract from other issues.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
GOP Senator Bill Cassidy said he expects the US Supreme Court will "swat" away Texas' restrictive abortion law.
"I think the Supreme Court will swat it away once it comes to them in an appropriate manner," Cassidy said during an interview with ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.
The Texas Heartbeat law, or SB 8, went into effect on Wednesday and bans abortions after six weeks, before most women know they're pregnant.
The Supreme Court refused to block the law in a 5-4 ruling. The ruling was not on the merits of the law or the landmark 1973 Roe V. Wade decision that made abortion legal in the US. Instead, the court said it couldn't step into the dispute, with a majority of the justices saying they were not ready for a full hearing.
"This order is not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas' law, and in no way limits other procedurally proper challenges to the Texas law, including in Texas state courts," they wrote.
Cassidy told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that the ruling "had nothing to do with the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade," but was about those bringing the case not having "standing" or not enough stake in the case to file the challenge.
"If it is as terrible as people say it is, it will be destroyed by the Supreme Court," Cassidy said.
Some supporters of legal abortion have called the decision a "soft" overturn of Roe v. Wade.
President Joe Biden was critical of the law and said it "will significantly impair women's access to the health care they need."
"It just seems, I know this sounds ridiculous, almost un-American," Biden said on Friday.
Cassidy said Democrats were using the ruling to distract from other issues, like the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"People are using it to gin up their base to distract from disastrous policies in Afghanistan, maybe for fundraising appeals," Cassidy said. "I wish we would focus on issues as opposed to theater. It was about if they had standing, nothing to do with constitutionality. I think we should move on to other issues."
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