Topline
The Texas legislature passed a bill late Tuesday that will criminalize performing an abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade—the second restrictive abortion law the state has passed in just over a week—becoming the latest state to impose a “trigger ban” to outlaw abortion in anticipation of the conservative-leaning court hearing a major abortion case next term.
An abortion rights activist holds placards outside of the US Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in ... [+]
Key Facts
House Bill 1280, which takes effect 30 days after the Supreme Court overturns Roe, stipulates Texans “may not knowingly perform, induce, or attempt an abortion.”
There is a narrow exception in which abortions are allowed if the mother’s life is at risk or the pregnancy causes a “serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function,” though the physician is directed to perform the procedure in a way that “provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive.”
Violating the ban is a second degree felony and subject to a civil penalty of no less than $100,000.
The crime escalates to being a first degree felony if the fetus dies, which the Dallas Morning News notes could carry a life sentence in prison.
The legislation, which will now go to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign, focuses on punishing abortion providers who perform the procedure and not the person getting the abortion.
The bill was passed in the wake of the Supreme Court announcing this month it would take up a case on Mississippi’s abortion ban after 15 weeks, which intensified the possibility that Roe will be overturned.
Big Number
56,600. That’s the approximate number of abortions that were performed in Texas in 2019, according to state data cited by the Texas Tribune.
Tangent
The trigger ban comes just a week after Texas enacted a law that bans abortion when a heartbeat is detected, which could be as soon as six weeks into the pregnancy. The law, which is widely expected to be challenged and struck down in court under current Supreme Court precedent, is one of the most restrictive in the nation.
Crucial Quote
“I believe all Texans deserve the opportunity to experience life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Texas Attorney General Paxton said at a hearing for the bill. “I believe House Bill 1280, and the companion Senate Bill 9, is the appropriate vehicle to ensure that this right is immediately protected should the Supreme Court overturn the current precedent.”
Chief Critic
The Texas bill has been widely condemned by Democrats and abortion advocates, who believe it is overly restrictive and will not eliminate abortion, but rather make it more unsafe or harder to access as people are forced to cross state lines. “I’m worried we will see more people pursue sort of do-it-yourself — the proverbial back alley procedures that are less safe, and much more likely to have complications,” state Rep. Erin Zwiener, a Democrat, told the Texas Tribune before the bill’s passage. “I think something a lot of my colleagues miss is that it's not a choice between abortion and not abortion, it's a choice between safe legal abortion and unsafe illegal abortion.”
Key Background
Texas joins 10 other states that have enacted similar “trigger bans” in the event that Roe is overturned: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah. Kansas and Ohio also have laws that say the states will restrict abortion to the maximum extent allowed under the courts, and Alabama, Arizona, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wisconsin have abortion bans that were enacted before the Roe decision that are right now unenforced, but could be enforced in the future. (Many Democratic-leaning states, meanwhile, have measures that would explicitly protect abortion rights if Roe is overturned.) The Supreme Court’s upcoming consideration of Mississippi’s ban, which will specifically rule on the issue of whether “all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional,” offers the 6-3 conservative court its clearest opening in decades to reconsider Roe and the court’s stance on abortion.
Further Reading
Texas Legislature passes ‘trigger’ bill, outlawing abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned (Dallas Morning News)
Texas Legislature passes bill that would outlaw abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned (Texas Tribune)
Texas Bans Abortion As Early As Six Weeks (Forbes)
Supreme Court To Consider Mississippi’s Abortion Ban In Move That Could Challenge Roe V. Wade (Forbes)
