Abortion rights of women in the United States have recently been under constant political siege, especially from states in the south. Historically, the Supreme Court has remained diligent in protecting certain rights, under the precedent of Roe v. Wade, from “heartbeat” bills and the like. However, just last week, Texas was approved for their Senate Bill 8, which is currently the most restrictive abortion bill in the country. This bill aims to deputize citizens in the state’s efforts toward anti-abortion movements.
Deputizing the citizens both within and outside of Texas enables the government to sue clinics and individuals performing and/or aiding an abortion in any way. Although patients themselves cannot be sued, the bill also prohibits individuals from receiving the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for incest or rape victims. Furthermore, if the prosecution succeeds, they could be awarded at least $10,000, in addition to recovery legal fees. When the bill was sent to the Supreme Court for deliberation, it was approved with a 5-to-4 vote in favor of the Texan abortion bill.
In the Supreme Court’s approval, it seemed to lack their stance of the bill’s constitutionality in terms of the individual rights granted to U.S. civilians, specifically women. Now, in the weeks following the breaking news of this Senate Bill 8’s approval, the United States Department of Justice has taken legal steps toward its reversal.
The lawsuit that the Justice Department has filed against the state of Texas seeks to target the unconstitutionality of the bill. In the process, it works to prevent other Southern states from deriving their own restrictive bills from Senate Bill 8. Additionally, in the pursuit of the bill’s reversal, the Department of Justice has implored a federal judge to get involved and temporarily block the state and legal enforcement of the law.
At the core of both the lawsuit and preliminary injunction of Texas’ Senate Bill 8, is the Justice Department’s argument containing medical evidence of both female reproductive systems and embryotic development. Ultimately, the interest of the lawsuit is not only to emphasize the infringement on individuals’ rights and freedoms granted by the Constitution. It seems it will also include emphasis on the lack of biological response and livability from the embryo at the six-week point, as well as the mother’s assumed lack of knowledge concerning the pregnancy, due to her own reproductive system.
In a medically generalized sense, women do not experience pregnancy symptoms heavily nor pursue medical confirmation concerning their pregnancy status until around or after six weeks into their first trimester. Additionally, the Department of Justice seeks to inform both Texas and the Court that there is no heart development in the embryo at that stage, merely electrical activity in developing cells. More specifically, the hypothetical child within the woman is not even considered a fetus until eight weeks.
Furthermore, it is the goal of the Department to bring legal relief to the women of Texas to protect both their own rights and the constitutional rights of every Texas citizen. Without the protection of these rights, and the diligent pursuit of justice, other states may follow in the unconstitutional footsteps of the Texas government.
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