🙋 What's happened at the Supreme Court so far this session

The Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in several major cases the last few weeks. Here’s a quick rundown: 

• The Texas abortion law: The Court heard arguments this week, and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett showed indications of siding with abortion providers, per Vox. But the Court is hearing a fairly narrow question, specifically whether people can sue to block the law. That means for the law to actually be struck down it would take another round of litigation. Another abortion case awaits SCOTUS in December.

• Vaccine mandates: New York state health workers argued their case to end a vaccine mandate for religious purposes in front of SCOTUS this week. The same thing happened for Maine the week before, and the court ruled the mandate could stand. It seems unlikely the court will side against employer-backed mandates, from the public or private sector. 

• Second Amendment: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments about whether Americans have the right to carry a loaded gun in public today. The Justices are expected to use research all the way back to the 1300s in England to decide where to come down on the issue, per the Los Angeles Times.