A wave of pro-life demonstrations swept across Texas. In the American state of Texas, a law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy has been enacted and is being enforced. The law, commonly referred to as the “heartbeat bill,” was signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas in May of this year. Organizations including the Planned Parenthood network of women’s clinics and the American Civil Liberties Union tried to block it in the Supreme Court.
On Monday, these and other organizations filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court asking it to halt implementation of the Texas law while its constitutionality is challenged in court. Late Wednesday night, the court officially denied the request. Five of the nine justices, all appointed by Republican presidents, voted to uphold the law. Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who found herself in the minority, called the court’s decision staggering in her dissent, stating that her colleagues chose to bury their heads in the sand over a blatantly unconstitutional law that prohibits women from exercising their constitutional rights.
Opponents of the Texas law continue to challenge it in lower federal courts, so it may eventually reach the Supreme Court again for substantive review. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. The number of offers should remain: Episodes End of story. Advertising Podcasts.
The Union for the Protection of Civil Liberties claims that millions of women have been effectively denied the right to abortion. President Joe Biden promised to protect women’s right to abortion after the law takes effect. “This Texas law grossly violates the constitutional right established in Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for nearly half a century,” Biden said, referring to the 1973 Supreme Court case that legally established a woman’s right to an abortion.
Texas is the second largest state in the United States in terms of area and population. It is considered conservative. The issue of abortion continues to divide American society and remains one of the most important issues on the national agenda. The term six weeks is based on the fact that this is when the heart of the fetus begins to beat. Some medical authorities consider this approach to be misleading. Doctors and women’s rights activists have sharply criticized this legislative innovation, which empowers any private individual to sue doctors who perform abortions beyond the time limit set by the law. According to the organization, up to 90 percent of abortions in Texas were performed at six weeks of pregnancy or later. It called this a flagrant violation of the U.S. Constitution. “However, we will not back down and will continue the fight. Everyone has the right to abortion,” the Planned Parenthood network promised on its Twitter page.
According to the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, American women have the right to an abortion until the fetus is able to survive outside the womb. This is usually around the 22nd to 24th week of pregnancy. The Texas “Heartbeat Act” shortens that period by more than three times. According to its opponents, many women do not have enough time in the first six weeks to realize they are pregnant. The American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists claims that the concept of a “fetal heartbeat” is false. They believe that at this stage there is only a “clump of tissue that will develop into a fully formed heart as the embryo grows.
The Planned Parenthood network of reproductive health clinics is the leading provider of abortions in the United States. All previous restrictive laws of this type in the United States threatened violators with criminal prosecution or a ban on practicing medicine. For the first time, the authors of the Heartbeat Act used an unusual method of enforcing the law – the right to bring a civil suit. Any person, not just residents of Texas, even if they have nothing to do with the matter, will now be able to sue anyone who has aided or abetted the performance of an illegal abortion and demand $10,000 in their favor. This definition includes not only doctors, but also any clinic staff, family members, or clergy who have given a woman legally incorrect advice. The only exception is abortions for medical reasons, which require a written statement from a doctor. Now, Texas women who want an abortion at a later date will have to travel out of state – up to 400 kilometers, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organization that advocates for the right to choose.
Supporters of abortion rights claim that a woman’s freedom of choice takes precedence over the rights of an unborn child. The right to abortion has long been one of the most important moral and political issues in the U.S., dividing the nation. When one person says “I’m pro-life” and another says “I’m pro-choice,” everyone understands what they are talking about. According to the Pew Research Center survey, 59% of citizens support the right to an abortion “in all or most cases,” while 39% oppose it. Among Republicans, 35% support the right to abortion. These numbers have remained virtually unchanged for the past two decades. In conservative Texas, the Heartbeat Bill is supported by about half of residents, according to an April poll.
The new Texas law is just one of many attempts to restrict abortion rights in Republican-controlled states. According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were more of them in 2021 than in any other year in the past half-century. Idaho, Oklahoma, and South Carolina also enacted six-week waiting periods this year for a woman to decide whether to keep her child. However, enforcement of these laws in these states has been blocked by legal challenges. Pro-life advocates find reassurance in changes in the composition of the Supreme Court, which now has a 6-3 conservative-liberal split. Pro-choice advocates fear that this will ultimately lead to a revision of the historic Roe vs. Wade decision, moving the issue of abortion rights from the federal level to state control. In conservative states where Republicans are in power, they will be able to effectively ban abortions.