Texas governor signs law banning abortions early as 6 weeks
AUSTIN, Texas • Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed a law that bans abortions in Texas before many women know they are pregnant and differs singularly from similar efforts nationwide: leaving enforcement to private citizens, who can sue doctors or anyone who helps a woman get an abortion.
The law puts Texas in line with more than a dozen other states that ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, possibly as early as six weeks. It 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, including so-called heartbeat bills.
“The life of every unborn child with a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion,” Abbott said in a bill signing at his office.
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.
FILE – In this March 30, 2021, file photo, pro-life demonstrators gather in the rotunda at the Capitol while the Senate debated anti-abortion bills in Austin, Texas. Texas has become the largest state with a law that that bans abortions before many women even know they are pregnant. The measure signed Wednesday, May 19, 2021, by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott puts Texas in line with more than a dozen other states that have so-called heartbeat bills. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)