“By allowing anyone, anywhere to sue people involved in providing or obtaining an abortion, this ban would open the floodgates for frivolous lawsuits, bury clinics under court cases and legal fees, and make it difficult for providers to remain open," Nash said in a statement. Constitution by framing what’s really a state law as a private matter between citizens.’”Įlizabeth Nash, principal policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, said the civil action created through the law is "uniquely cruel." “Federal courts would immediately say, ‘Hey, wait a second: You can’t cut off the U.S. “You can’t attempt to strip constitutional rights by requiring someone to go into state court when they face a lawsuit from another private citizen,” she said.
Plus, legal experts have said that prohibiting enforcement of the ban by public officials will not protect the law from legal challenges.Įlizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas, told the American-Statesman in March that it is “unlikely that a federal court is going to fall for this” strategy employed in the legislation. This provision of the law has drawn intense criticism from lawyers, 400 of whom wrote a letter to lawmakers warning that the language used in the legislation is “exceptionally broad” and would create an “unprecedented” cause of action that "subverts the foundations of our judicial system." More: Why anti-abortion advocates think the Texas 'fetal heartbeat' bill can survive a court challenge Legal challengeįederal judges have blocked similar laws in other states, but proponents of the legislation in Texas are hopeful that by prohibiting public officials from enforcing the law and leaving it up to private citizens to sue violators, the law can pass legal muster. The governor’s swipe of a pen can’t change the Constitution.”
“Not only does this ban violate more than half a century of Supreme Court caselaw, it paves the way for anti-choice extremists to use our court system to go after anyone who performs abortions or considers supporting a person that has one," Tigner said in a statement. "But make no mistake, abortion is both legal in Texas and supported by the majority of Texans.
Conservatives now hold a 6-3 majority.ĭrucilla Tigner, a policy and advocacy strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the law is "the most extreme abortion ban in the country." The proposal was part of an aggressive agenda from abortion opponents during this year’s legislative session, which included numerous proposals designed to severely limit the availability of the procedure, with an eye to the changing power dynamics at the Supreme Court. There is not a specific timeframe tied to the restriction, and fetal heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks gestation – or six weeks from a woman’s last menstrual period, not since the start of her pregnancy – according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. At that point, abortions will be allowed in Texas only prior to the presence of a fetal heartbeat, barring a medical emergency. The law is slated to go into effect Sept. "In Texas, we work to save those lives and that's exactly what the Texas Legislature did this session." Abortion law effective Sept. "Our creator endowed us with the right to life, and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion," Abbott said during a live video of the ceremony shared to Facebook. Abbott indicated support of the measure early in the session and made good on his pledge to sign it on Wednesday, at a ceremony that was closed to members of the press. The bill passed easily through both the Senate and House, despite fervent opposition from Democrats. More: ‘Huge numbers’ of abortion cases heading to Supreme Court to test limits of Roe v. The measure, a priority for Republican lawmakers during this year’s legislative session, would allow virtually any private citizen to sue an abortion provider or others who “aid and abet” an abortion in violation of the new ban. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case that established a woman's legal right to an abortion. The restriction puts Texas at the vanguard among states challenging the boundaries of Roe v. Greg Abbott signed into law Wednesday legislation that prohibits abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, effectively banning most abortions in the state.