The so-called heartbeat bill would ban nearly all abortions in Texas.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed a bill that would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That’s as early as six weeks’ gestation, before many people know they are pregnant, making the bill a de facto ban on nearly all abortions. The law contains an exception for medical emergencies, but no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. “Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion,” Abbott said in signing the bill. “The heartbeat bill is now law in the Lone Star State.” So-called heartbeat bills are not new. At least eight have passed in recent years, with a raft of states enacting the bans in 2019. No heartbeat bills have gone into effect, however — they have faced court challenges since they run directly counter to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established the right to an abortion in America. But the Texas bill includes a new provision that supporters think could help it evade legal challenges — it essentially empowers private citizens to enforce the law by suing abortion providers, whether or not those citizens are connected to a patient, according to the Texas Tribune. Some believe this could help protect the law in court by removing the state from the equation, making it harder for abortion-rights groups to sue state officials. Meanwhile, Roe v. Wade itself is now at risk. The addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett last year was widely seen as tipping the balance on the Court in favor of overturning Roe. And this week, the Court announced it would hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi that could provide an opportunity to strike down the 1973 decision. That could pave the way for states like Texas to ban abortion at six weeks — or even earlier. The Texas law, which goes into effect in September, won’t have an immediate impact on Texans’ ability to get an abortion; it is all but certain to be challenged in court. But it signals a renewed willingness among anti-abortion lawmakers to pass sweeping restrictions on abortion, perhaps looking ahead to a time when those restrictions will get a green light from the Supreme Court. “Heartbeat” bills ban abortion very early in pregnancy Heartbeat bills around the country are based on model legislation written by Faith2Action, which bills itself as “the nation’s largest network of pro-family groups.” “While not the beginning of life, the heartbeat is the universally recognized indicator of life,” the group states in an FAQ on its website. The model legislation says that if a patient is seeking an abortion, the doctor must first determine whether the fetus has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is present, the doctor is prohibited from performing an abortion, unless it is necessary to save the mother’s life or “to prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.
