By: Trent Chassy
On May 19th of this year, Texas governor Greg Abbott decided that he and his state legislature have the authority to override decisions of the Supreme Court. He did this through signing into Texas law the most restrictive abortion access bill in the country. Texas Senate bill 8 (TX SB 8), entitled the Texas Heartbeat Act, effectively bans abortion and turns the Texas citizenry against themselves. This bill is seeking to further strip the rights of women in Texas which has pushed our own state to reflect on our progress on this issue.
TX SB 8 attacks abortion access in an unapologetic fashion. To start, this bill establishes a time limit of 6 weeks from conception to receive an abortion. This short time period is what effectively bans abortion. A 6-week window can often be too short for a woman to know of a pregnancy. So, even though Greg Abbott has claimed that this bill is in fact not a ban due to the 6-week window, this is an intentionally despicable piece of spin. I should mention, in addition, that although no one should face these restrictions, no exceptions are granted in cases of rape or incest.
The enforcement of the bill is directly aimed at abortion providers who could receive steep penalties for noncompliance. However, the effects of this bill have the potential to be felt by more than those who break the new law. This bill specifically keeps the government of Texas from prosecuting these cases and rather allows private entities to pursue damages. In effect, this means that private entities can drag any provider under suspicion through lengthy, and resource draining, legal proceedings. It’s optimistic to think that private entities will show discretion when filing these lawsuits since the Texas government has offered a $10,000 bounty for those who successfully sue a provider. To be clear, Texas citizens, businesses, and nonprofits are being offered money to pursue those providing women’s health services legally.
This bill will face many future legal challenges, but it has already successfully survived its first bout. On the 1st of September around midnight the Supreme Court decided not to strike down this bill. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito claims there have been lies and hysteria stirred up regarding their decision. He claims that this bill was handled with normal procedure, disregarding the middle-of-the-night ruling, and that the court has yet to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, very early in the written bill itself it states, “The legislature finds that the State of Texas never repealed, either expressly or by implication, the state statutes enacted before the ruling in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)” Or in other words, “we aren’t listening to that decision anymore.” One might think the Supreme Court response to a direct negation of their decision would be to strike down the law. Further, by not doing so it would be reasonable to conclude that the Supreme Court has changed their position on this issue.
Bluntly, this bill is oppressive and absurd on its face. Luckily, since the Supreme Court has neglected to act, our own state is reacting. A bill has been written by Democratic lawmakers, entitled The Expanding Abortion Services Act (TEXAS), a bill to address our own states shortcomings on women’s rights. While our state is currently far ahead of Texas on this issue this new bill demonstrates there’s room for improvement. Like the Texas bill, this bill empowers the citizenry to enforce the law. However, in this instance it’s to uphold the rights of women. This bill enables women to seek monetary damages in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. As of now, in the event of an unwanted pregnancy the mother is solely responsible financially. This bill addresses this inequity and will help to ease the financial hardships associated with an unwanted pregnancy.
Although this is a necessary first step in addressing our own shortcomings, I believe this comes short of what our opposition to Texas could offer. I can’t help but feel it’s our responsibility to help those affected by the Texas bill or others like it. It’s now clear the federal court system is against the position of supporting women’s rights and that our state has a conscience more apt to deal with this issue. If our state wants to stand in opposition to Texas’s efforts, we should offer their citizens a better experience here in Illinois. This means we should pursue any method of providing Texas women monetary support in coming here for a temporary stay or permanent relocation. It’s great that we have services available to accommodate these women, but without the means of getting here, women will be left behind. More so, immigration from other states brings money into our economy. So along with affirming our belief in women’s rights, we could spur economic activity.