Translating the Texas abortion ban: What does it mean for us?
Cover Photo: Photo Credits: Senate Democrats / Flickr
Written by Lakshmi Adiga
Our laws are governed by the political parties in power, and the language of the law is how they exert their power, either for themselves or for the people they serve. On September 1, 2021, the Texas Abortion Ban was passed to ensure that access to reproductive justice is denied. By going through some key elements of this bill, it is clear that the lack of accountability toward the conservative Texas government continues to demolish the sanctity of the freedoms given through the US Constitution.
Photo Credits: Becker1999 / Flickr
The Texas government pushes an agenda against abortion throughout the bill, defying medical knowledge in the process. The cruelty of the six-week limit is apparent in the bill; at this stage it is near impossible to know if you are pregnant, giving people only 2 weeks after their period to get an abortion. They claim that the unreasonable six-week limit on abortion is due to:
“...the likelihood of her unborn child surviving to full-term birth based on the presence of cardiac activity.” Texas Senate Bill 8 (Texas Abortion Ban)
However, the “fetal heartbeat” measure of a fetus’ viability cannot apply at the gestational age of six weeks. There is no heart formed in an embryo at six weeks, and the apparent “heartbeat” that is being used to measure viability is simply electrical activity. The term “fetal heartbeat” is not even a medical term. Instead, it's used to simplify medical information to patients. The bill attempts to invoke the emotional subtext of the words “fetal heartbeat” despite the lack of medical legitimacy, revealing how the abortion bill does not save babies, but instead oppressed those who require abortions.
The extent of this oppression can be seen in the enforcement of the abortion ban. The enforcement does not come directly from the government, but instead places the responsibility onto private citizens, changing affronts to this law from criminal jurisdiction to civil cases. As the bill states:
“[The law] shall be enforced exclusively by any person, other than an officer or employee of a state or local governmental entity in this state...” Texas Senate Bill 8 (Texas Abortion Ban)
The express purpose of civil cases is to remedy damage inflicted by one party onto another. However, the nature of this law completely bypasses this personal investment in civil cases, with absolute strangers suing medical officials for violations that have no personal impact. This degree of separation enables the state to remain unaccountable for its violations of constitutional rights, allowing it to bypass the precedent set by Roe v Wade where government control over abortion access was clearly found to be unconstitutional.
Photo Credits: Ms. Magazine / Wikimedia Commons -
This enforcement of the law has completely violated the dynamic between people and government. Instead of the state serving the people’s interests, it is the people serving the state’s interests, creating a police state around abortion access. This stunning lack of democratic and proper judicial process is a crippling blow to the personal rights of privacy and bodily autonomy, which has already begun to spread across the country.
This law is one of many laws throughout the country whose effectiveness relies on one critical Supreme Court case: Roe v Wade. The abortion ban accepts the claim that the law infringes on the “undue burden standard,” which affirms a pregnant person’s right to choose an abortion, only as long as Roe v Wade stands.
“(The defense of affirming the right against an undue burden) is not available if the United States Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973)...” Texas Senate Bill 8 (Texas Abortion Ban)
The landmark decision that guaranteed one’s reproductive freedoms is now eroding due to the new conservative majority in the Supreme Court instituted by the Trump administration. If this court decision falls, many laws in states like Mississippi and Arkansas will go into full effect, repealing access to abortion for millions across the country. These so-called “trigger laws” are silent yet pose an extreme threat to human rights, and the Supreme Court’s decision to delay ruling on the unconstitutionality of this only pushes us towards a bleaker future.
Photo Credits: jordanuhl7 / Flickr
To take action against the extreme unconstitutionality of the Texas abortion ban, many organizations are standing their ground against the law, some refusing to acknowledge it due to its unconstitutionality like RAICES Texas, and some fighting the law in court like Whole Women’s Health Alliance. Likewise, companies such as Uber and Lyft are fighting the abortion ban by protecting their workers, announcing they will cover 100% of the legal fees of drivers who are sued under the abortion law, and promising to keep transportation to and from abortion clinics safe for those who need it.
Standing up against the abortion ban means advocating for abortion access throughout the US by pushing representatives to preserve our rights and prevent the erosion of democracy.
