Abortion. It has been a debate for many decades and the role that the federal government has in helping to make that decision.

By Risa Dorf

Since the Supreme Court’s decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973, stated that fully prohibiting abortion is unconstitutional, effectively legalizing abortion in the first two trimesters. Since said decision according to Gut Master Institute despite the legalization of abortion, 43 states have prohibited abortion at some point within pregnancy. Additionally, 37 states require some sort of parent involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion and, 27 states require one or both parents to consent to the procedure. The increase of strict abortion laws are greatly affecting teens all across the country. Approximately 109,000 abortions a year are done to girls under the age of 18. Additionally, 18 states have passed new regulations on abortions since the start of 2021. 

The newly passed Texas abortion law is the harshest law in a state regarding abortion that this country has seen in quite some time. SB8, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act, is a unique law for many reasons. It implements some of the harsh restrictions on abortion in the nearly 50 years since the monumental Supreme Court decision on the Texas abortion case of Roe v. Wade. SB8 has now triggered a snowball effect all across states with predominantly republican state governments due to the uniqueness of the bill. 

Roe v. Wade’s decision set a legal precedent deeming that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides a “right to privacy” that protects a pregnant woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. This ruling resulted in government officials having less political and legislative power over a woman’s abortion. The Supreme Court effectively deemed infringing on a woman’s abortion in the first or parts of the second trimester unconstitutional.   

The new Texas bill was specifically designed to avoid judicial review and make it difficult to challenge in the courts. SB8 or Senate Bill 8 makes it illegal for a Texas doctor to perform an abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy. Most women won’t know they are pregnant before the sixth week of pregnancy. A majority of pregnant women find out somewhere between 6-8 weeks, an at-home test or blood work won’t show a positive until week 3-5, and a doctor won’t use an ultrasound before week 7 (unless there is a medical reason to do so earlier). An overwhelming majority of women won’t know they are pregnant until after the six week line. Unlike many other abortion-banning bills SB8 does not include exemptions for rape or incest. 

The law explicitly bans government employees or state officials from enforcing the law, instead it delegates the responsibility to the citizens. Any private citizen in Texas or elsewhere is eligible and encouraged to report someone who did or intended to aid or abet the procedure. If they have reasonable evidence they receive a bounty of $10,000 plus legal fees that were necessary to obtain. The law casts a large net over who is able to be persecuted. Meaning not only the doctors themselves but also clinicians, clinic workers, and even relatives who helped pay for an abortion are liable. But arguably most interesting of all, the law suggests that an Uber or Lyft driver who drives the women to the procedure could also be liable. Back in September, Lyft and Uber released statements in response to the bill. 

“[SB8] threatens to punish drivers for getting people where they need to go – specifically , women exercising their right to choose and to access the healthcare they need. Drivers are never responsible for monitoring where their riders go or why… Similarly, riders never have to justify, or even share where they are going and why.”  Lyft CEO Logan Green and President John Zimmer, Lyft Co-founders, said in a statement back in September.

“This Law is incompatible with people’s basic rights to privacy, our community guidelines, the spirit of rideshare, and our values as a company. We are taking action on two fronts: Lyft has created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under SB8 while driving on our platform. [Secontly] TX SB8 is an attack on women’s right to choose. Lyft is donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood to help ensure that transportation is never a barrier to healthcare access.”

Dara Khosrowshahi, Chief Executive Officer of Uber, quickly followed suit replying to Green’s tweet stating, “Right on @logangreen – drivers shouldn’t be put at risk for getting people where they want to go. Team @uber is in, too, and will cover legal fees in the same way. Thanks for the push.”

This statement affects all of Texas, particularly teenage girls, many of whom can not drive. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), almost 350,000 US teens under the age of 18 get pregnant every year. Of all pregnancies every year, approximately 25% end in abortion, while teenage abortions are more with 31%. 

Twelve hours after Governor Abbot signed SB8, a 17-year-old girl in Texas was the first person to die from an attempted at-home abortion.  This bill is affecting teenagers all across the state, and they have something to say about it.

Paxton Smith went viral last spring after attacking the bill in her valedictorian speech at her graduation. Not informing the school beforehand, she snuck another speech of hers on stage, one that the school had not approved of. 

“I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights,” Smith said during her graduation speech at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas. 

She continued stating, “I have dreams and hopes and ambitions. Every girl graduating today does. And we have spent our entire lives working towards our future. And without our input and without our consent, our control over that future has been stripped away from us.”

“I hope that you can feel how gut-wrenching that is. I hope you can feel how dehumanizing it is, to have the autonomy over your own body taken away from you… And I’m talking about this today… on a day honoring 12 years of hard academic work…  on a day where you are most inclined to listen to a voice like mine, a woman’s voice — to tell you that this is a problem, and it’s a problem that cannot wait.” 

Smith is far from the only teen to speak about this bill. Texas is known for its more extreme bills when it comes to abortion, in particular minors receiving an abortion. Planned Parenthood explains the Parental Notification and Consent Laws, “The Texas Parental Notification Law applies to pregnant teens who are 17 years of age or younger and have decided to have an abortion. The law requires your doctor to notify your parent, legal guardian, or conservator at least 48 hours before you have an abortion.”

Jane’s Due Process is a non-profit that helps minors obtain legal representation to secure a judicial bypass. According to Jane’s, “a judicial bypass for abortion is an order from a judge that allows a minor to get an abortion without the notification or consent of her parents.”

“The only purpose of this bill is to instill fear into those people who want and need to get an abortion and to try and get them to change their minds about getting one. This is another way of restricting access to those who need an abortion and another component of control,” said Veronika Granado, a Jane’s Due Process advocacy fellow. 

“Jane’s Due Process will do everything we can to make sure young people in Texas get the resources they need to access care. Our hotlines will remain open, and we will continue fighting for a world in which all people – especially young people – have reproductive freedom.”

While Jane’s Due Process and many other groups are fighting for women in Texas to have reproductive choice, it is still extremely difficult to provide that type of reproductive care without the judicial system in their corner. But as long as the bill is upheld in the courts, SB8 is not going anywhere.