The Court’s opinion is here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18a774_3ebh.pdf
The Supreme Court ruled with the abortionists in the Louisiana case and granted the stay. However, the Court made the following significant point:
Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied,
this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event the petition
for a writ of certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the
sending down of the judgment of this Court.
While I am disappointed in that result, there are several important and encouraging points:
The stay will automatically be lifted if the Court does not take the case on the merits (in legal-speak this means that if the Petition for Cert is denied and the Supreme Court does not hear the case, then the lower court opinion is upheld and the law against the abortionists will be enforced. This created leverage in that the stay is temporary. Perhaps, Roberts voted to grant it under the above circumstances. To be clear, I disagree with Roberts, but I’m not entirely discouraged because in either event I think we still stand to win this case.
If the case comes before the Court, then he should vote consistent with his prior vote in the Texas case and we will win by a 5-4 vote to preserve the law. But, if the case does not come before the Court on the merits, then (per above) the stay will lift and the law will be enforced in Louisiana.
So, I think in either event we will ultimately win this case because (a) if the court takes the case we should have 5 votes with Roberts, but (b) if the Court does not take the case, then the stay is automatically lifted and the Louisiana law is enforced.
Equally encouraging is the news that Justice Kavanaugh sided against the abortionists and wrote a dissent. Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch also dissented but did not join Kavanaugh’s dissent. I suspect the reason is that Kavanaugh’s dissent is a bit luke-warm
in that it makes some unnecessary concessions. However, he did dissent.