Texas Law

Divya, Vikram, Soha, Norma

The History of
Abortions
Abortions until the early 1800s
● Puritans on Sex and Abortions: “Puritans believed that
marital sex for pleasure was important and that marriage
was a contract of love, not just economics” (Dine)
● Stark contrast to our current laws; Some of our current laws
ban abortions as early as 6 weeks
● One could be godly without children and life begins when a
mother felt her baby kick, no need to outlaw abortion
before quickening on religious grounds

● Abortions were carried out using herbal abortifacients;

called “taking the trade”
● Midwives and other women would usually perform
abortions using homeopathy, with the knowledge of herbs
to prescribe to “suppress the courses”
● Surgical abortions were deemed dangerous and were quite
rare, only used as a last resort
Criminalizing Abortion up to the Mid-1800s
● Victorian Era: stricter adherence to rules, traditional gender roles,
and intolerance towards women’s freedom
● Shift apparent in the scientific medical community: American
physicians trying to delegitimize non-traditional doctors
(midwives, homeopaths, etc.) by attacking legal abortions
● “Restricting abortion was one way that male physicians
could assert clear authority over their female patients”
(Smith-Rosenberg)
● Efforts to preserve the racial makeup of our true America!

● An anti-abortion campaign succeeds with the efforts of the

newly formed American Medical Association of white, male
physicians, who were largely untrained in reproductive health
and pregnancy, sensationalized newspaper headlines and the
Catholic Church
● By the end of the century, abortion restriction laws are in
place in all states.
Illegal Abortions in the late 1800s
● “Then, as now, making abortion illegal neither eliminated the need for abortion nor
prevented its practice.” (Boston Women’s Health Collective)
● Question: Is Abortion is an economic issue or a moral issue?
○ Great Depression: Abortion specialists able to hand out cards, open up clinics and
freely advertise

● Introduced a wave of illegal abortion practices in the modern times

● Environment of no regulation and safety measures:
○ Women vulnerable to financial exploitation
○ Doctors emphasized speed and anonymity
● Adverse health outcomes:
○ In the 1950s, about a million illegal abortions a year were performed in the U.S., and
over a thousand women died each year as a result.
○ Sterile, chronically ill, emotional distress
○ In 1969, 75% of abortion related deaths were non-white, 90% were performed on
white private patients.
OvERVIEW of
LEGISLATION
History: ROe v. Wade (1973)
● Pre-Roe v. Wade, abortion largely prohibited on state level
○ Law usually targeted providers
● Roe v. Wade concerned a Texas law banning all abortions
except when woman’s life was in danger
● Supreme Court declared law unconstitutional
○ Determined law violated rights to privacy and liberty
○ Later rulings determined it’s an individual right, don’t
need consent of husband, parents
● Justice Blackmun’s trimester framework
○ 1st: State cannot limit abortion access
○ 2nd: Can limit access only to protect woman’s health
○ 3rd: Abortion can be banned in interest of protecting
potential life, except in cases of health risk
History: government ASSISTANCE, Legislative Capacity
● SC has determined multiple times that the state has no obligation to
assist in abortion access
○ Harris v. McRae (1980)
■ Upheld restrictions to Medicaid funding for abortions other
than for rape, incest, or danger to life
○ Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
■ Upheld Missouri ban on use of public facilities/employees for
abortions
● Breakdown of Blackmun’s Roe v. Wade Framework
○ Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
■ SC decides laws concerning 1st trimester as allowed if there is
no “undue burden” or “substantial obstacles”
■ Minors need parental consent
○ Nowadays many states ban abortions after a certain number of
weeks on basis of “fetal pain”
History: “Partial Birth”
● Recent SC decisions have concerned “partial
birth”
○ Medical term “intact dilation and
extraction”
○ Performed late 2nd trimester, rare
● Stenberg v. Carhart (2000)
○ SC down strikes Nebraska law banning
“partial birth” abortions
○ Law did not have exception for health risk
● Bush signs Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in
2003
○ SC upheld ban in Gonzales v. Carhart
(2007) even though there is no health risk
exception, only life risk
History: Selective Abortion
● Sex Selection
○ 11 states prohibit
● Race
○ 4 states prohibit
● Genetic Disorder
○ 6 states prohibit
■ 2021 Federal court uphelp Ohio ban on Down
Syndrome abortions
○ A few more states require counseling of some level
○ ~13% of abortions
S.B 8 “Texas Heartbeat Act” 2021
● Bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity
detected, ~6 weeks
● No exceptions for incest or rape, only for
medical emergeny
● Bounty System
○ Anyone can sue if they believe someone
to have violated the law
○ Specifically to avoid unconstitutionality
○ Plaintiff can gain $10000+legal fees if
they win the suit
■ No requirement to pay if they lose
○ No precedent in law
■ New Missouri gun law uses similar
system allowing people to sue law
enforcement over 2nd Amendment
Proponents
of Texas Law
The Lake-Emerson Poll
- One of the only a few polls to probe the nation reaction to Texas’ law, which is the strictest active
abortion restriction in the country and is inspiring copycat legislation in other Republican-led
states.
- 1,000 adults across the country and had a 3.1 percent margin of error.
- 46 percent of adults support the Texas law
- Substantial gender gap. Most men expressed support for the law, with 53 percent in favor
- Women, by contrast, generally opposed the law: 51 percent said they disapproved of the Texas
abortion ban
Correlation Between Opinion and Political
Alignment
- Democrats & Independents:

- Oppose Texas Law generally

- Republicans:

- Supports Texas Law generally

- Adults who oppose the law are more likely to say that they feel
“strongly” about their position.
Abortion is Murder
- The killing of an innocent human being is wrong, even if that human being has yet to be
born.

- Unborn babies are considered human beings by the US government. The federal Unborn
Victims of Violence Act, which was enacted “to protect unborn children from assault and
murder,” states that under federal law, anybody intentionally killing or attempting to kill
an unborn child should “be punished… for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a
human being.”

- The act also states that an unborn child is a “member of the species homo sapiens.”

- At least 38 states have passed similar fetal homicide laws.

 Life begins at conception, so unborn babies are
human beings with a right to life
- Upon fertilization, a human individual is created with a unique genetic identity that
remains unchanged throughout his or her life

- This individual has a fundamental right to life,

which must be protected.
Fetuses feel pain during the abortion procedure
- The “most primitive response to pain, the spinal reflex,” is developed by eight weeks gestation

- “There is universal agreement that pain is detected by the fetus in the first trimester.”

- “If the fetus is beyond 20 weeks of gestation, I would assume that there will be pain caused to the fetus.
And I believe it will be severe and excruciating pain.”

- “We see [in an ultrasound image] the child’s mouth open in a silent scream… This is the silent scream of
a child threatened imminently with extinction.”
Abortion is the killing of a human being, which
defies the word of God
- The Bible does not draw a distinction between fetuses and babies: the Greek word brephos is used in
the Bible to refer to both an unborn child and an infant.

- By the time a baby is conceived, he or she is recognized by God, as demonstrated in Jeremiah 1:5:
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee.”

- Christianity

- Hinduism

- Buddhism
Allowing abortion conflicts with the unalienable right to
life recognized by the Founding Fathers of the United States
The Declaration of Independence states that “[A]ll men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Abortion takes away from the unborn the unalienable right to life that the Founding Fathers intended for all
human beings
If women become pregnant, they should accept
the responsibility that comes with producing a
chilD
- Responsibility

- Even when contraceptives are used, pregnancy is a risk

- The baby should not be punished for a mistake made by adults

- The option of adoption

Arguments
Against Texas
LAw
REasons: In favor of abortion
● Teen Pregnancy
○ Risks for both-
■ pregnancy related complications (blood
pressure).
■ Premature birth and low birth weight.
● Rape
● Incest
● Inadequate care provision (Teen Pregnancy, low-income)
● Health risks (diabetes)
● Fetus with severe defects
● Or as simple as they don’t want to
Bans of Our bodies Opinion Letters

● “The Texas law encourages pro-lifers to become bounty

hunters and spy on total strangers who may be desperate
to get an abortion.” -Peter Alkalay (Scarsdale, N.Y.)

● “Excuse me, but aren’t these sanctimonious abortion

police the very same people beating the drum for personal
freedom of choice, including the choice to spread deadly
Covid?” -Helen Kelly (Erie, Colo.)

● “The self-righteousness of Texas legislators will inevitably

be challenged after one of their family members or friends Montinique Monroe for The New York Times
requires an abortion due to rape, incest, teenage
pregnancy, a fetus with a severe defect or some other
reason that’s legally accepted in other states.” -Paul L.
Newman (Merion Station, Pa.)
Bans of Our bodies Opinion Letters

● “Since Texas is allowing regular citizens to sue anyone

aiding and abetting an abortion, then maybe it can also
have a law that would allow Texans to sue people not
wearing a mask or refusing to get vaccinated. After all, the
legislators are against abortions because they feel it is
murdering innocent children. Refusing to take the proper
steps to avoid getting and giving to others the potentially
deadly Covid-19 is along the same lines.” -Linda Drum
(Bradenton, Fla.)

● “If men could get pregnant, access to safe and legal Sarah Schulte
abortion would be a given.” -Ted Gallagher (N.Y.)
Is Texas Law What the people want? ● According to this
statistics, no?
Is Texas Law What the people want?

● Is it really
the citizens,
government,
or both?
Discussion Questions

● Should there be unacceptable reasons to have an abortion (sex selection,

genetic disorder, etc)? Can these reasonably be enforced?
● How should we deal with extenuating circumstances when it comes to
abortion? How should cases of rape be handeled? Is it okay for women to
use abortion as a form of birth control?
● Why has the public opinion on abortions changed throughout time?
(Economic, religious, moral beliefs)
● Based on the two survey polls in Pro and Against Texas Law, who is the
one that wants this law, the people or the government?
Sources
● https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/opinion/letters/texas-abortion.html
● https://www.feminist.com/resources/ourbodies/abortion.html
● https://www.americanprogress.org/article/scarlet-letters-getting-the-history-of-abortion-and-
contraception-right/
● https://gizmodo.com/the-terrifying-history-of-herbal-abortion-medicines-5933494
● https://www.elle.com/life-love/a14570/abortion-in-the-19th-century/
● https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/abortion-central-history-reproduc
tive-health-care-america/historical-abortion-law-timeline-1850-today
● “More than Half of Men Favor Texas' Abortion Ban, Poll Shows.” The 19th, 5 Oct. 2021,
https://19thnews.org/2021/10/texas-abortion-ban-more-than-half-of-men-favor-poll-shows/.
● https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/us/politics/texas-abortion-law-facts.html
● https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/us/texas-abortion-ban.html
● https://www.pewforum.org/2013/01/16/a-history-of-key-abortion-rulings-of-the-us-supreme-
court/#roe
● https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/13/politics/ohio-down-syndrome-abortion-law/index.html
● https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/journals/3711005.pdf
● https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/abortion-bans-cases-sex-or-race-selection-o
r-genetic-anomaly