For 359 days, Texas has protected babies with beating hearts from abortions. As the first state in the nation to successfully ban abortions thanks to its private right of action law, Texas has seen its abortions drop over 50% as a result.
Then, a pre-Roe abortion law went into effect immediately following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade that provided protection for babies starting at conception. That law is estimated to have saved 10,000 babies from abortions already.
Now, thanks to the Supreme Court making its Dobbs decision official last month, a Texas trigger law that bans abortions when Roe v. Wade is overturned will go into effect today. That will protect all babies from abortions and only allow abortions in very limited instances such as the life of the mother and allowing care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.
And, as Texas Right to Life tells LifeNews, the law will more effectively hold abortionists accountable for killing unborn babies.
“Abortionists can face harsher penalties starting Thursday when the state’s “trigger law” takes effect. The Human Life Protection Act will make illegal abortion a felony and, most importantly, grant authority to the Texas attorney general to enforce the policy,” TRTL said. “Abortion became illegal immediately in June when the state’s pre-Roe v. Wade statutes regained effect after the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Current pre-Roe laws, however, can only be enforced by local authorities with a punishment of two to five years in jail. The “trigger law” will enhance penalties to a felony and will grant the attorney general authority to bring a $100,000 civil lawsuit if abortionists break the law.”
The pro-life group explained further: “Pregnant mothers seeking abortion will not be punished. Miscarriage treatment is not impacted by the Pro-Life policy, and the law contains an exception to protect the life of a mother.”
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The new trigger law is important as liberal Texas cities try to legalize or allow abortions. The new “trigger law” provides another avenue of stopping abortions by giving the attorney general the ability to sue abortionists. Thus, even if local police or district attorneys refuse to investigate or prosecute illegal abortions on criminal charges, the abortionist could still face a $100,000 civil lawsuit from the state.
“While nearly every major Texas city has “decriminalized” abortion, today’s new “trigger law” will give our Republican attorney general authority to sue abortionists if they illegally kill babies, enforcing the law where the radical left would merely ignore injustice,” it said.
The pro-life group is speaking with Texas legislators to include even more enforcement mechanisms to ensure the abortion ban is followed and more pro-life legislation could be in the offing during the next legislative session.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with a 6-3 majority ruling in the Dobbs case that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The high court also ruled 6-3 uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban so states can further limit abortions and to get rid of the false viability standard.
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Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the judgment but, in his concurring opinion, disagreed with the reasoning and said he wanted to keep abortions legal but with a new standard.
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was overturned and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state protecting babies from abortions and Kentucky became the 4th and Louisiana became the 5th and Ohio became the 6th and Utah became the 7th and Oklahoma became the 8th and Alabama became the 9th. This week, Mississippi became the 10th and South Carolina became the 11th,Texas became the 12th with its pre-Roe law and Tennessee became the 13th.
Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia have old pro-life laws on the books but there is question about whether they are applicable and will be enforced.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or quickly ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 total states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer authored a joint dissent condemning the decision as enabling states to enact “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show Americans are pro-life on abortion and a new national poll shows 75% of Americans essentially agree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe.
Despite false reports that abortion bans would prevent doctors from treating pregnant women for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies, pro-life doctors confirm that is not the case. Some 35 states have laws making it clear that miscarriage is not abortion and every state with an abortion ban allows treatment for both.
