Updated August 21: The House version of the bill was filed last night and contains many of the same civil litigation provisions, but not the expanded powers for the Attorney General
With the second special session of the Texas legislature truly kicking into gear with the fast-paced passage of the redistricting bill, many Texans remain unaware that there are actually multiple items on the Republican agenda that would have a major impact on the state. One of those agenda items includes another abortion restriction bill, this one specifically targeting abortion medication.
The bill, Senate Bill 7, that Republicans are looking to enact in this second special session is nearly identical to a bill that passed in the Texas Senate in the first special session. The special session bill is also similar to Senate Bill 8, the sweeping near-total abortion ban that went into effect in September 2021, in that it allows private citizens to sue health care providers or manufacturers who mail or prescribe abortion medication to Texans.
Many abortion-rights advocates are sounding the alarm that this could even mean any person who “aids” an abortion, even somebody manning a call center could be targeted with a civil claim. The bill also gives wide-ranging powers to the Attorney General to target abortion providers even out of state, another way Texas is attempting to erode shield laws in blue states.
According to Blake Rocap, the Legal Services Director of Jane’s Due Process, an organization that provides reproductive health care to Texas teens, this latest abortion bill is an attempt by Republicans in the state to specifically target telemedicine, which has been a lifeline for Texans seeking care. Despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade three years ago, the abortion rate has actually increased around the United States. The Guttmacher Institute, the research and policy organization, released a report noting that abortion medication accounted for 63 percent of all abortions in the United States in 2023, an increase from 53 percent three years earlier.
For many anti-abortion organizations that were hoping abortions would completely stop in the country, the recent trends are “frustrating,” said Rocap in an interview with Texas Signal. “People are still getting the care they need and people are trying to figure out how to stop that,” he said.
This week the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle blasted the proposed new bill out of Texas, saying it was “anything but pro-life” because it could jeopardize lifesaving care during a pregnancy complication.
“Senate Bill 7 would empower everyday citizens to go after the manufacturers and distributors of abortion pills. But the trouble is those drugs are also often used to save the lives of new mothers, among other uses completely unrelated to pregnancies. Doctors fear that if the bill passes, an already fearful environment will further erode their ability to practice medicine in the best interest of their patients, act quickly and even save lives.” – Houston Chronicle editorial board
While SB 7 technically states that litigation should not be utilized in emergency medical situations, many medical groups are worried that the broad nature of the bill means it will still have a distressing impact in a state with an already high maternal mortality rate, especially for Black women.
Perhaps one of the biggest intentions of SB 7 is the very specific target it would place on physicians or medical organizations outside the state of Texas that provide abortion care. Over the past several months it has been clear that the anti-abortion movement has been mounting a forceful legal campaign against shield laws, which were enacted by blue states to protect abortion providers.
Last month the first known federal lawsuit against a California doctor was filed in the Southern District of Texas on behalf of a Galveston man alleging that the doctor provided his former partner with abortion medication. The lawsuit was brought forth by anti-abortion attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who has been called the architect of Texas’s near-total abortion ban.
While not on the federal level, Ken Paxton has also been attempting to secure a legal petition from a New York doctor who allegedly provided abortion medication to a woman in Collin County. Ulster County in New York has refused to grant the legal judgment, which Paxton is now trying to force. On August 20, Paxton’s office announced he had filed cease and desist letters to medical organizations that provide and ship abortion medication.
Currently, SB 7 is making its way through the Texas Senate. After it was filed, it was immediately referred to the State Affairs Committee in the Senate. It was voted out of that committee after a hearing was held with no public notice. During the regular session, a similar bill did not make it to the Texas House floor, but many abortion rights organizations are worried that SB 7 will not suffer that same legislative fate and will likely pass both chambers and be signed by Governor Abbott.
No matter what happens with the legislation, Rocap stresses that the bill does not “effect people’s right to travel.” Still striking fear into what people can and cannot do in a state like Texas is often the point of many of these laws.
Next week the reproductive rights organization Free & Just will be holding a week of action highlighting the most recent attempts to restrict abortion in Texas. They will be convening advocates and storytellers to show how abortion restrictions and bans have harmed patients and families in Texas. The week of action will also coincide with several key anniversaries in the lone star state’s attempts to ban abortion.
August 25 marks three years since the “trigger law” went into effect, which outlawed nearly all abortion in the state with Roe v. Wade falling; and then September 1 is the four-year anniversary of SB 8 going into effect.
Great Job Jessica Montoya Coggins & the Team @ Texas Signal Media Foundation Source link for sharing this story.
