Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life What’s Going On With Abortion In Texas and Beyond

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues in the United States. Texas decided to pass an abortion law specifically SB 8 on May 13th, 2021. This law is one of the most restrictive laws on abortion in the United States because it bans abortion after an ultrasound could detect a “fetal heartbeat which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy” even though many women don’t know whether they are pregnant at this time. Medical and legal experts have said that the word heartbeat is confusing because embryos don’t have “a heart at that developmental stage.” This abortion law does not make exceptions for when a woman became pregnant because of incest or rape. However, the law does have an exception for medical emergencies.

Although other bills have been passed restricting abortion, the Texas bill is different because it allows almost all private citizens anywhere in the U.S. to sue abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood. If the people who choose to sue win the case, they receive $10,000 in addition to the cost of their attorney. Moreover, the people who sue wouldn’t be required to have any connection whatsoever with the abortion provider or the person who got the abortion. The Texas law won’t go unopposed as Elizabeth Smith who works for the Center of Reproductive Rights says that abortion rights organizations are “not going to let this six-week ban go unchallenged.” Texas Governor Abbot (R) defended the bill he signed into law saying, “Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion.” Furthermore, the bill has also received support from Chelsey Youman of Human Coalition Action, an organization against abortions. Chelsey said, “The Legislature and Governor prioritized this historic legislation, and with his signature, approximately 50,000 precious human lives will be saved in Texas next year.” However, the law has been slammed by U.S. President Biden (D) saying the Texas law is “extreme and unamerican.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a Democratic representative of New York’s 14th district, has also criticized the Texas bill saying, “We know none of this is about life, what this is about is controlling women’s bodies… This is about making sure that any menstruating person in this country cannot make decisions over their own body.” A High School Junior who wishes to remain anonymous disagrees with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying, “I think human life is very important and I understand the situations regarding incest and rape but besides that, aborting a life due to your irresponsibility is not right.” Another 11th grader who wishes to remain anonymous disagrees and in response to the Texas Abortion Law says, “I think this is super wrong. At six weeks someone doesn’t even know that they’re pregnant. There should be a cutoff, you shouldn’t be able to have an abortion after the third trimester but six weeks is too early. Also, the people who made the decision were mostly men, which is wrong.” In support of reproductive rights over 600 marches, led by the Women’s March, were held across the country on Saturday, October 2nd with thousands of people attending them.

Many have said that the Texas abortion law signals the end of Roe v. Wade (1973), the case where the Supreme Court voted in a 7-2 decision that a right to an abortion fell within the privacy right recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) which was protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Roe v. Wade (1973) gave women full control of their bodies during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. It’s also important to note that the Supreme Court refused to stop the Texas bill from becoming the law right before the midnight deadline in a 5-4 decision.

On Thursday, December 2nd, Texas passed a new law relating to abortion that limited the use of abortion-inducing medication which means that giving medication after seven weeks of pregnancy is illegal (including sending medication in the mail). Other states including Mississippi have passed laws mirroring Texas’s “heartbeat” law banning abortion once cardiac activity has been detected on an ultrasound scan which is usually after six weeks. The Mississippi abortion law has been taken up to the Supreme Court and a decision is expected to be reached by sometime this summer (this Mississippi Supreme Court case is known as Dobb’s v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization). As a result, twenty-one states plan to ban or limit access to abortions if the Supreme Court decides to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade (1973).

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