"A Backdoor Effort" to Revive Texas' Century-Old Abortion Law

[In It to Win It]

https://boltsmag.org/texas-1925-abortion-law/

Texas State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, leaves a news conference at the Texas Capitol during the 2023 legislative session. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)


In late March, women who had suffered severe pregnancy complications and were forced to leave Texas for care sat in the state Senate chamber and implored Texas lawmakers not to make such situations even worse. Some had previously sued the state over its abortion bans, after being denied needed medical care in Texas. Devastating fetal diagnoses—one woman learned that the fetus was developing without a skull and would not survive, another was told that severe complications with one developing twin threatened her life and the life of her other healthy twin—left some scrambling to get over the state line.

But instead of expanding medical exceptions to the state’s abortion bans in order to protect people in these circumstances, the women said, measures being pushed by Texas Republicans threatened to further criminalize them and their loved ones.

The senators had been hearing testimony on abortion legislation, including a bill that purported to clarify the narrow medical exceptions in Texas abortion bans, following reports of deadly delays in care due to the vague language and penalties of up to life in prison for doctors who violate them. For weeks, that bill, Senate Bill 31, dominated advocacy efforts and headlines. This was in part because the bipartisan measure, deemed a priority bill by even the staunchest anti-abortion lawmakers, contained what some called a “Trojan Horse” provision: By including an early 20th-century, pre-Roe abortion law among the several abortion bans that SB 31 amended, critics said the bill could help resurrect the century-old abortion ban that would allow for criminalizing pregnant people seeking abortions, along with anyone who helps them get the procedure, even if it’s out of state. Eventually, the bill’s authors agreed to add language clarifying that the legislation was neutral on this issue, and it passed the Texas Senate last week.

Yet Texas Republicans have at the same time been pushing forward another sweeping anti-abortion bill, Senate Bill 2880, which also includes language that could be used to enforce the same pre-Roe ban, often called the 1925 law.

“This is a backdoor effort to fully reinstate the 1925 law,” Houston-area Democratic Senator Carol Alvarado said last week, just before SB 2880 also passed the full Senate.

[Diamond_Dog]

1. Wow what a smarmy looking asshole in that picture.

They just never give up torturing women, do they.

[rickyhall]

2. Some day we'll wall Texas and corral the MAGATs there.

[wolnaaborcja]

3. Access to Abortion Medication in Europe - An Example from Poland

While abortion laws in the U.S. are under constant threat, it's important to look at how other countries handle access – especially where it's restricted by law but demanded by reality.

In Poland, abortion is almost completely banned, yet thousands of women each year still seek safe options through online sources and international support networks. One example is this resource site offering medical information, guidance, and pills based on WHO standards:
👉 https://wolna-aborcja.com/tabletki-poronne/

Despite the legal pressure, people continue to support one another and spread verified knowledge. The fight for reproductive rights is global – and grassroots efforts are crucial everywhere.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Welcome to DU. . . . nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Welcome to DU

[ShazzieB]

5. Cobtrolling what women can do IN THEIR STATE just isn't enough for these weasels! 🤬

Sounds like Texas wants to build a wall around the whole state that women can't exit through without passing a negative pregnancy test, Good luck with that, ass clowns!