Madison Kwiecinski 

News Editor

mvk5945@psu.edu

A new Texas state law went into effect at the start of September that is an assault on the rights of women as well as  the constitutional rights of people nationwide. The law not only bans abortions before most women are even aware of their preganancy and leaves no exceptions for pregnancies that are a result of sexual assault, but also attacks anyone providing any form of assistance to these women in need. 

This new law is unique from others previously attempted, because although it accomplishes the same goal conservatives have been pushing towards for years, it is intentionally worded in a way that makes it difficult to challenge due to no one group being directly responsible for taking the abortion cases to court.

Public officials are not responsible for the enforcement of this law. Instead, Texas has made it so that anyone can sue an individual through a civil suit for having an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, or for “aiding and abetting” someone who received one.

If you are a women who lives in Texas you can be sued by a neighbor, by someone you pass on the street, or even just by someone who does not like you, as long as they think you had an abortion after aproximatley six weeks of pregancy. 

This law is an outright violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, which allows women to have abortions up until the point of fetal viability, which is typically around 22-24 weeks. States can extend the timeline for abortions beyond that, but should be unable to limit it further than what is constitutionally acceptable. 

The Supreme Court declined to do anything about the law at this time, but is open to, and is expecting it to move through the legal process, which will take months. Abortion providers and women’s rights groups will likely bring this case to the court as soon as possible, but even still it is not soon enough. 

It was a mistake on the behalf of the Supreme Court to not strike down this law before it was implemented. It is dangerous to have this law go into effect for a multitude of reasons, most visibly the overall rights of women and of privacy to the individual. 

If you work in a doctor’s office in Texas that provides abortions, even if they strictly follow the new law, it is likely you will eventually face a civil dispute at some point due to the unrestricted scope of this abortion law. 

If you have a friend or a daughter in Texas, and you give her a ride to the clinic, regardless of the medical service done, you could face a civil dispute if people believe, or say, she had an abortion. 

This law has mobilized the public of Texas to treat abortions the same way the U.S. treated “witches” during the Salem witch trials. It is accusatory, unnecessary, and an overall attack on fundamental rights. This law should be struck down due to the unconstitutional grounds on which it stands.