Legislation banning abortions after about six weeks takes effect in Texas, NPR dot org reports.
The law effectively ended Roe V Wade’s protections in the state.
In a bold move that shocked some high court watchers, the US Supreme Court did not respond to an emergency request to stop the policy from taking effect by midnight Tuesday.
Instead, the supreme court allowed the law to go ahead despite court challenges.
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said that the law is “extreme,” adding that it “blatantly violates” the constitutional right to abortion. He also said that his administration will protect and defend that right.
“The Texas law will significantly impair women’s access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes,” Biden said in a statement.point 175 | “And, outrageously, it deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who they believe has helped another person get an abortion, which might even include family members, health care workers, front desk staff at a health care clinic, or strangers with no connection to the individual”.point 440 | 1
The Texas law, which was passed in May, bans all abortions in the state after about six weeks of pregnancy. With pro-choice women arguing that they are already banned from terminating their pregnancies before they even know it.
According to NPR dot org, the Texas law conflicts with the Supreme Court’s precedents, which disallows states from banning abortion before fetal viability, normally between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Texas’ new law is one of the harshest abortion bans in the country.
The law also allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone who will help a woman to terminate her pregnancy, including those who provide financial support in carrying out an abortion or give a woman a ride to a clinic.
Private citizens who bring these suits will not need to show any connection to those they are suing. If they win the case, the law entitles them to a minimum of $10,000 in damages, plus attorneys’ fees.
Meanwhile, abortion providers said that if the law remains on the books, it would stop the vast majority of patients from having abortion services in the state.
While the law has now gone into effect, legal challenges are still ongoing.