Texas governor signs ‘Heartbeat bill’ to ban abortions

• Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has signed an abortion ban into law.
• The law bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which could be as early as six weeks.
• The ‘heartbeat bill’ allows citizens to sue medical providers or anyone who helps a woman get an abortion.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has signed a law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which could be as early as six weeks.

Abbott declared during a bill signing at his office, “The life of every unborn child with a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion.”

While the law is similar to other “heartbeat bills” in other states, the Texas law is unique in that it leaves the enforcement to private citizens and even anyone outside Texas.

While Texas officials are prohibited to enforce the ban, anyone can sue an abortion provider or anyone who helps someone get an abortion after the said limit. They can then seek financial damages of up to $10,000 per defendant.

Critics pointed out that this provision could allow abortion opponents to harass and sue doctors, healthcare personnel, counselors, patients, and even a friend or parent who drove the patient to the clinic or paid for the procedure.

The law, signed on Thursday, would take effect in September. It remains to be seen, however, if it will push through, as federal courts have mostly blocked states from enforcing similar measures.

Still, a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy was taken up by the Supreme Court. This prompted abortion rights activists to raise concerns about future bills that are more restricting.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, declared, “To relentlessly attack our reproductive rights until abortion is a right in name only. Passing these bills is not leadership, it is cruelty and extremism.”

Critics also pointed out that an electric signal flutter can be detected as early as six weeks by advanced technology, even when the embryo hasn’t developed into a fetus yet — and has not yet developed a heart. According to medical experts, an embryo only develops into a fetus in the 11th week of pregnancy.

The current Texas law bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with the exceptions of severe fetus abnormality or a life-threatening medical condition.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most abortions (more than 90%) occur in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.

The Mississipi case will likely be heard by the Supreme Court in the fall, with a decision likely in spring 2022.

Source: Aol.com