The Texas Statute, a new law which essentially ends all abortion in the state after a baby has a detectable heartbeat, has now taken effect. This law, as representative Anthony Sabatini (FL) stated, could be, “one of the most important legal decisions since Casey.” It now seems that many agree with him.
In recent days, Democrats all over the country have been put into a sort of mad scramble. First, they tried to block the law from ever being put in place, and now that that has failed, they are moving to more drastic measures.
According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “The Supreme Courts cowardly dark of night decision to uphold a flagrantly unconstitutional assault on women’s rights and health is staggering.” She has said that the house will vote later this month on a bill that will protect women’s abortion rights. This move creates a potentially contentious vote in the fall, with the house moving to pass abortion related legislation.
But what is it in this bill that makes it so significant? It certainly has a great deal to do with the fact that this bill is very strict when it effectively cuts off all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy; however, there is more to it than that. After all, there have been numerous other bills much like this one that have been passed only to be quickly struck down in the federal courts. This due to the fact that many of them come into contradiction with the ever so clear Roe v. Wade. This bill is significantly different than the others in a few key ways.
Most importantly, the Texas bill was designed to make it as difficult as possible to challenge it in court. The law places the duty of enforcement in the hands of private citizens, rather than in the hands of the state. This does generate some confusion over who can be sued over illegal abortions, but up until now it has remained effective.
Abortions continued in Texas late into the night on August 31st. Until at 11:58 pm, the last late-term abortion in Texas was completed after a long night of cramming in as many patients as possible, this done by all major abortion providers, according to a Wall Street Journal report. (1.)
Al K. Scott, Contributor
(1.) Calfas, Jennifer. Texas Abortion Law Takes Effect. The Wall Street Journal, Toy Sarah, Dow Jones News Corp, Sept. 2nd, 2021
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