Abortion is a major, controversial issue that’s been at the center of debates on ethics, morals, and politics for a long time. The ending of a woman’s pregnancy has brought up significant discussions about women’s rights, personal freedom, and the government’s role. Over the past decades, Texas has been a big part of these discussions, creating new laws, requirements, and procedures, mostly all in favor of protecting fetal life. Many people, especially women, in Texas have stood against the government to try to change these laws in hopes of better constitutional rights.
Texas has had a long history when it comes to Abortion. The first laws date back to 1854 in the Texas Penal Code. This criminalized the procedure except to save the life of the mother. This legal restriction on abortion remained in place until the landmark Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973. The Roe v. Wade ruling recognized a woman’s constitutional right to choose to have an abortion, thereby invalidating many state laws, including those in Texas, that prohibited or restricted access to abortion. Since then, many new rules and acts have been passed. In 2005, Texas banned abortions after 24 weeks and also enforced a requirement of parental consent for people under 18 seeking an abortion. In 2013, Texas passed House Bill 2, or “HB2”, one of the more prominent bills for limiting women’s constitutional rights. This bill contained many requirements. Some of them included; “Abortion after 20 weeks post-fertilization is banned, unless a patient is at risk of death or the fetus has a severe medical problem, doctors administering medication abortion must follow a state-mandated protocol. All abortion facilities must meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers (mini-hospitals), even if a facility only provides abortion by providing pills to swallow.” Another prominent bill was Senate Bill 8, which was passed in 2021. This was a law that banned abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy (before many people knew they were pregnant). This law effectively eliminates abortion access in the state and imposes an unconstitutional abortion ban.
This has been affecting all women in Texas for decades. One specific example of this was Kate Cox, who filed a historic lawsuit in December 2023, asking the courts to allow her to terminate her pregnancy after she learned her fetus had full trisomy 18, a lethal fetal anomaly. “The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Kate Cox did not qualify for an abortion under the medical exception to the state’s near-total abortion ban” (The Texas Tribune). Cox’s condition was deteriorating, and she was in and out of the emergency room. Cox then had to leave the state. Cox’s lawyers noted in a statement that many women in Texas do not have the financial means to leave the state quickly. This is just one example of many where the laws are negatively affecting women in place.
Some things are being done to try and change these laws. In November of 2023, “The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in an ongoing lawsuit filed by women against the state over its multiple abortion bans. The suit, first filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights in March, was filed by women who say their lives were put in danger due to the state’s multiple bans” (ABC News). The women filing the lawsuit said they were denied care despite having dangerous pregnancy complications. “The state Supreme Court will decide whether a partial block of Texas’ abortion bans — which would allow abortions to resume in cases of medical emergencies and fatal fetal diagnosis while litigation continues — can go into effect.” The court did not decide but will issue a decision by June 2024.
After interviewing my Mother on the subject, she gave her opinion on the government’s involvement with a woman’s rights as well as the Texas ruling, specifically. She stated, “I feel that the government should not have a right to tell a woman (or any human being) what they can and cannot do with their own body relating to any medical decisions. Having been pregnant twice, and as a mother, I do feel that there should be a consideration for a “cut-off date” as to when an abortion can be performed. Not 6 weeks, but possibly no more than 15. However, I agree that a woman should have the choice to terminate a pregnancy (at any time) if the fetus will not be viable after birth or certainly if the pregnancy puts the mother’s health or life at risk.” Women in Texas will continue to face these problems until something is changed.
