WASHINGTON – The 30-day count-down for Texas’ trigger ban on abortion officially began Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court issued the official judgment that reversed Roe v. Wade. The law will further restrict and complicate a crowded legal landscape.
The Supreme Court issued an opinion and order in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, which reversed the constitutional right to an abortion. However, the judgment in the case was not released until Tuesday, indicating there can be no more rehearings or appeals in the case.
Texas is one of 13 states that has a trigger ban in place before the Supreme Court decision. In the month since justices overturned Roe, the landmark abortion rights case that originated in Dallas County, abortion providers have at least temporarily blocked the bans from going into effect with legal action. Other states have moved to restrict or protect abortion access in state legislatures.
Idaho and Tennessee also have trigger laws that will go into effect in 30 days now that the judgment has been issued.
The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1280, also known as the trigger ban, in 2021.
The law bans all abortions with exceptions for medical emergencies, and makes it a first-degree felony to knowingly perform or induce an abortion, or a second-degree felony to attempt an abortion. The penalties for the first-degree offense is five years to life in prison and a fine of $100,000.
While the trigger ban has not gone into effect, abortion is already banned in the state. The Texas Supreme Court allowed a pre-Roe ban on abortion to immediately go into effect on July 1, exactly one week after the constitutional right to an abortion was revoked.
The decision overturned a ruling by a Harris County judge that allowed abortions before six weeks to temporarily resume. The law prohibits a person from administering or assisting in the administration of an abortion, with penalties of two to five years in prison and a fine between $100 and $1,000.
Originally, it was unclear if this law would go into effect because it was deemed unconstitutional by Roe in 1973. However, Texas lawmakers never repealed the law and Attorney General Ken Paxton and maintain it now will go into effect.
The implementation of the pre-Roe ban, alongside the Dobbs decision, had a chilling effect on abortion clinics. Immediately after Roe was reversed Whole Woman’s Health and Planned Parenthood, two of the largest abortion providers, announced they had ceased services.
Whole Woman’s Health announced July 6 it was shutting down four of its Texas abortion clinics and raising money to reopen in New Mexico, which has greater protections for abortion access and has historically served Texans seeking out-of-state abortions.
Even before the ruling, abortions after six weeks were banned through Senate Bill 8, which empowered everyday citizens to file lawsuits against those who aided in an abortion. Texas Policy Evaluation Project found that 49.8% fewer abortions were performed in the state in September 2021, the month SB 8 went into effect, than September 2020.
A poll conducted in the week ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision showed most Texans did not support the trigger ban. The poll also showed only 15% of respondents supported a total ban on abortion.
The decision to reverse Roe, a nearly 50-year precedent, has also caused concern for contraception access and LGBT rights among activists. While Justice Samuel Alito explicitly wrote the Dobbs decision only applied to abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas in a concurring opinion wrote other due process precedents like Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges should be reconsidered.
In response, congressional Democrats have introduced several pieces of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to codify protections for same-sex and interracial marriage, contraception and abortion access.
The bills passed the House with varying levels of bipartisan support, however, it is still unclear how successful measures will be in the Senate.
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