Texas Nears Total Abortion Bans Next Month, Urges 'Criminal Prosecution'
(Bloomberg) -- Texas will ban almost all abortions starting Aug. 25, when a dormant 2021 state law takes effect.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Rockstar Games Cleaned Up Its Frat-Boy Culture — and Grand Theft Auto, Too
US Economy Shrinks for a Second Quarter, Fueling Recession Fears
The Strong Dollar Is Wreaking Havoc Globally — And It’s Just Getting Started
Biden Considers New Pause on Paying Back Student Loans, $10,000 Relief
The law, which only allows abortions when a mother’s life is at stake, or she faces serious physical impairment, was triggered by the Supreme Court’s entry of its final judgment striking down Roe v. Wade on July 26.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said anyone who “knowingly” performs, induces or attempts an abortion by any means commits a first-degree felony if the fetus dies or faces a civil penalty of at least a $100,000 and the potential loss of professional license, if it survives. A first-degree felony is punishable by up to 99 years in jail.
Paxton noted the ban doesn’t prevent the use of oral contraceptives or birth control devices such as IUDs, which prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. The law also doesn’t apply in cases of requiring the removal of ectopic pregnancies or the remains of miscarriages, Paxton said in an advisory issued Wednesday.
Paxton encouraged local prosecutors to “immediately pursue criminal prosecutions” based on a different, nearly century-old, state abortion ban that was dormant since 1973 when the Supreme Court’s Roe decision established a federal right to abortion under the US Constitution.
Texas abortion providers have ceased offering even early-stage abortions, which were all that was allowed under a 2021 state law that authorized anyone to sue people who enabled an abortion for those pregnant for about six weeks or longer. Several clinics have announced plans to relocate to states where the procedure remains legal.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Axie Infinity CEO Moved Crypto Tokens Before the Company Revealed Hack
How a Sextortion Victim Hacked Back and Put Her Attacker in Jail
Return-to-Office Strategies to Avoid Being There All the Time
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
