AUSTIN, Texas (NBC) – Texas has become the largest state with a law that bans abortions before many women even know they are pregnant.
The measure signed Wednesday by Republican Governor Greg Abbott puts Texas in line with more than a dozen other states that have so-called “heartbeat bills.” The measures ban abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, possibly as early as six weeks.
Texas’ version is unique in that it prohibits state officials from enforcing the ban Instead, it allows anyone, even someone outside Texas, to sue an abortion provider or anyone else who may have helped someone get an abortion after the limit and seek financial damages of up to $10,000 per defendant.
Critics say that provision would allow abortion opponents to flood the courts with lawsuits to harass doctors, patients, nurses, domestic violence counselors, a friend who drove a woman to a clinic, or even a parent who paid for a procedure.
Texas law currently bans abortion after 20 weeks, with exceptions for a woman with a life-threatening medical condition or if the fetus has a severe abnormality.
The new law would take effect in September, but federal courts have mostly blocked states from enforcing similar measures.
But with the Supreme Court this week agreeing to take up a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, abortion-rights activists worry that a ruling favorable to the state could lay the groundwork for allowing even more restrictions.
The Supreme Court will likely hear the Mississippi case in the fall, with a decision in the spring of 2022.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.