In May, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed one of the most restrictive abortion law in the United States, resulting in a near-total ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy or as soon as the cardiac activity is detected. This is well before many women are aware they are pregnant, essentially banning nearly 80% of abortions in the state, predominantly impacting Latinx and Black communities who made up a majority of Texas abortions in 2020.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, rejected to halt the Texas ban on abortions. Texas law now deputizes citizens as bounty hunters by offering $10,000 to bring civil lawsuits against abortion providers, their neighbors’ medical procedures, or anyone else found aiding in an illegal abortion. Additionally, the law provides no exception for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. There has been backlash from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and President Joe Biden, who criticized the Texas law, labeling it an assault on women’s constitutional rights.
The Justice Department has presented a lawsuit against Texas, joining pro-abortion and pro-reproductive rights groups, such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, in the next step to begin the process to overturn this unconstitutional legislation, expected to reach the Supreme Court within weeks.
