What You Need to Know About The Recent Texas Abortion Laws
Words by Yemaya Jacinto | Art by Gabi Magaly
On the first of September, 2021, the country’s most restrictive abortion law yet, Senate Bill 8, was passed by the primarily conservative United States Supreme Court. This legislation in place signifies the detrimental consequences for people of color, low-income communities, and several overlooked groups such as those a part of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as undocumented immigrants.
Even so, the abortion debate continues to be an impassioned topic of debate for the last few decades. With records reaching back to 2700 BCE, abortion is one of the oldest documented occurrences in history. It was first practiced in China and then moved to ancient Egypt. Abortion is unquestionably a part of human history, a familiar practice, and keeping it illegal won't necessarily make it disappear.
In order to fully understand SB-8 and its contents, we must first recall Roe v. Wade, a critical decision of the U.S Supreme Court that overturned a Texas law prohibiting abortion on January 22, 1973, thus authorizing the operation throughout the country. The court ruled that a woman's right to an abortion was inherent in the 14th Amendment's right to privacy. Abortion had indeed been outlawed across most of the country since the late 1800s, leading up to Roe v. Wade. A state law that forbids abortion regardless of the stage of pregnancy or additional considerations infringes on such a right.
Later, SB-8, a legislation that was commenced on September 1, 2021, prohibits abortion at six weeks, long before the bearer is aware of their pregnancy. In addition, the law makes zero exceptions in cases of sexual assault or incest, however, it does allow abortion in the cases of a carrier’s life on the line but the window is still quite narrow. Furthermore, private persons in Texas are empowered to sue anyone who conducts or aids and abets an abortion. Plaintiffs with no ties to the client or the clinic have the right to sue and seek legal fees as well as a $10,000 compensation if they succeed. Texas Right to Life, a pro-life advocacy group, had already developed a platform where users could submit a complaint of doctors, facilities, or individuals they perceived or suspected of assisting people in obtaining abortions by the time the state's six-week ban on abortion took effect on September 1st. The concentration of the statute on suing those who assist or perpetrate abortions casts a broad umbrella, encompassing everyone from clinical personnel to therapists to anyone associated with transporting a person to get an abortion. The implicit support of surveillance, in particular, increases the vulnerability of persons of color in a legal system where they often face harsh penalties. Abortion applicants in Texas and advocates of abortion rights across the nation voiced concern, with many expressing that the bill, similar to several other conservative state abortion rules, will unfairly target people of color, those with low incomes, and other socially marginalized populations. Moreover, discrepancies regarding consistent contraceptive access and use, which are typically entrenched in structural injustices such as poverty and racism, may be linked to greater rates of unwanted pregnancy among women of color. Data provided by the Guttmacher Institute shows 49 percent of all women who received an abortion lived below the federal poverty level as of 2014.
As abortion is not just for Cisgender women, many transgender men, as well as non-binary people, need to be included in the conversation. Youth and LGBTQIA+ individuals, who currently experience particular challenges to abortion access, will be disproportionately affected by the new law. Handicapped individuals of color, people living on the street, and those who lost a two-income household due to the pandemic might all be hit hard. The measure will have an inordinate effect on immigrants, particularly those who are unauthorized to be in the U.S.
There are still conflicts of opinion among both pro-life and pro-choice movements. Some pro-life activists may be willing to support abortions in cases of incest and rape, while others are insistent on the procedure being immoral in all cases. Many pro-choice advocates feel that abortion should be unrestricted, while others support legislation that would require a waiting period before the procedure may be performed or guidelines that demand minors to obtain parental approval.
Nevertheless, despite abortion rights currently existing in suspension, people continue to perform hazardous and unhygienic pregnancy terminations that have the potential to contribute to long-term maternal health complications.
Alternatively, educating adolescents on the proper contraceptive use and sexually transmitted infections have proven to be an effective method as opposed to abstinence-only as a solution to reducing abortions and unwanted pregnancies overall. A common widespread argument is that educating adolescents about sexual activity, it is bound to further encourage teens to have sex outside of marital relations. A 2018 prospective study of 21 studies conducted between 1984 and 2016 looked at the effectiveness of school-based interventions for preventing youth pregnancy. Such interventions did not promote risky sexual behavior, but instead led to a great reduction in the likelihood of initiating sex in the 13 months following the programs, and were not connected with sex at subsequent follow-ups, according to the review.
Overall, Senate Bill 8 situates reproductive rights in a state of extreme instability targeting marginalized and minority populations. This topic is important to reproductive bodies now more than ever as many states will have the capacity to overturn Roe v. Wade in the near future, using Texas as a prime pioneer example.