Thousands of women in Texas are feeling the impact of the state’s new law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy – before most women even know that they are pregnant. The law bans abortions when embryonic cardiac activity is detected.
The law has been sent to the Supreme Court for final jurisdiction, while thousands of women are forced to make rushed decisions and others are fleeing the state to have procedures elsewhere.
Legal experts say there is a very real possibility that by next year, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade — the 1973 landmark decision that gave women the constitutional right to abortion nearly a half-century ago. Basically, conservatives would be stripping away a constitutional right that has protected women’s choice for an entire generation.
“It’s just a really scary time to be a woman.”
-Joanna Grossman, Law Professor at SMU Dedman School of Law
Governor of Texas, Gregory Abbott, said: “our creator endowed us with the right to life and millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion,” and said the bill would “work to save those lives” (Dautrich). Clearly, someone is not up to date on the definition of separation of church and state.
The Biden administration immediately challenged Texas’ law, saying it “blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade” (Dautrich). The bill was temporarily blocked by the Department of Justice until the state of Texas appealed the block. Days later, it was put into effect again. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments on November 1st regarding both sides.
If Roe v. Wade is overturned next year, 11 states — Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, would most likely immediately ban all abortions. This would force thousands of women to travel hundreds of miles to have access to abortions. Planned Parenthood reported seeing women from Texas at its clinics in Kansas, Colorado, Nevada, and even as far as New York.
The law is especially devastating to women like Caroline, a 27-year-old Texan. She waited almost two months for an abortion appointment over one thousand miles away and was 18 weeks pregnant at the time of the procedure. At this point, her procedure would have been illegal in Texas, and the wait was not even her fault. “The wait was devastating. As a woman living with domestic abuse and few financial resources, abortion was my only option” (Chapman).
Today, my heart hurts for women. It hurts for Ruther Bader Ginsburg, for Gloria Allred, and for Gloria Steinem. But, most of all, it hurts for our daughters, our granddaughters, and the daughters who come after them.