The ongoing debate over the Heartbeat Bill

Kevin Baxter | Staff Reporter

On May 19, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 8 into law, which went into effect on September 1, 2021. The senate bill banned abortions throughout the state if a physician can detect cardiac activity, which usually occurs around six-weeks.

On the same Wednesday SB 8 went into effect, the US Supreme Court decided, with a vote 5-4, not to block the law from taking effect.

Recently, on Wednesday, October 7th, Senate Bill 8 was suspended by federal judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas. This, however, could be overturned by an appeals court as Senator Bryan Hughes, author of SB 8, believes will happen.

Governor Abbott posted a video on twitter, where he was joined by a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, signing the bill into law. Before signing the bill, Abbott addressed those watching about the importance of this act in protecting the lives of unborn children.

“Our creator endowed us with the right to life, and yet, millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion,” said Abbott. “In Texas, we work to save those lives.”

According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2017, approximately 862,320 abortions took place in Texas, representing 6.4% of all abortions in the United States. SB 8 could drop the abortion rate by up to 85% from some estimates. If this is true, the amount of abortions could drop from 732,972 to around 129,348.

Senator Bryan Hughes, the author of SB 8, wrote an op-ed to clear up confusion and address the controversy of the law.

“The law does not ban abortions after six weeks,” Hughes wrote. “It requires that a physician performing an abortion first check for a fetal heartbeat. If there is a heartbeat, the physician may not abort the child. One of the numerous unfortunate consequences of Roe is that many people mistakenly believe any regulation on abortion must be illegitimate. This is not so. The Supreme Court does not have the power to declare subjects off limits to democratically elected legislatures.”

Senate Bill 8 allows “any person, other than an officer or employee of a state or local governmental entity” to sue any person involved with an abortion if a heartbeat is detected. The act has explicitly written that those who “aid or abet” an abortion that violates this new law can be brought to court. Those included are anyone who pays for or reimburses the costs of abortion through insurance or otherwise.

In an attempt to stall the implementation of SB 8, 20 Texas abortion clinics tried to hold a hearing with the 5th appellate court of Texas. The court, however, canceled the hearing just days before the law went into effect. Because of the cancellation and the US Supreme Court’s decision, the law took effect on September 1.

Justice Kagan, one of the four dissenters in the ruling, argued that the law was “patently unconstitutional” and commented on how Texas crafted the law.

“The Court thus rewards Texas’s scheme to insulate its law from judicial review by deputizing private parties to carry out unconstitutional restrictions on the State’s behalf,” Kagan said.

This last quote comments on how citizens are the ones who will enforce this law, which makes it harder for the courts to challenge the law. Chief Justice Roberts also agreed that the law was constructed by only giving private citizens the enforcing power to insulate the state from responsibility.

Justice Sotomayer was much more direct in her opinion on this law’s effects in Texas.

“The Court’s order is stunning. Presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand,” said Sotomayer.

She also criticized Texas’s decision of authorizing citizens to enforce the law.

“In effect, the Texas Legislature has deputized the state’s citizens as bounty hunters, offering them cash prizes for civilly prosecuting their neighbors’ medical procedures,” Sotomayer said.

Roe v Wade set the precedent that it is a woman’s constitutional right to have access to an abortion before the fetus is viable. Senate Bill 8 essentially breaks that precedent of 50 years, making it illegal for a woman to have an abortion after a heartbeat is detected.

On September 29, members of the Austin city council and supporters of Resolution 111 held a news conference.

Resolution 111 was on the councils councils agenda the week the news conference took place. It was in support of giving those who can become pregnant access to abortions and also gave assistance to those who may be sued under SB 8.

Council member and sponsor of resolution 111, Paige Ellis, began the conference stating that abortion access in Austin is one of the main focuses of the council right now with the support of Mayor Adler who was unable to make the conference.

One speaker at the conference was, member of the Parks and Recreation board of Austin, Kim Taylor. Taylor invited those listening to join her and, executive director of Deeds not words, Amber Davis the next day as they led the Women’s march to the capitol which took place on September 30th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“We are marching and rallying to demand abortion justice for all Texas people,” announced Taylor.