Texas Senate Bill 8 is Unconstitutional, Unsustainable, & Anti-Woman
Population Media Center stands with women, families and all people who believe abortion should be legal, readily accessible, and safe. We believe all women should be able to determine if and when they have children and access the reproductive healthcare that best suits their needs. We urge the United States Supreme Court to block this anti-abortion legislation which prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, or 16 weeks before fetal viability, and five weeks before most doctors will see you to even confirm pregnancy. The law makes no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from incest or rape, completely ignoring physical and emotional trauma endured by people in these circumstances.
Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson has been quoted saying, “And Texas will now go back to being a pre-Roe state, turning the clock back 50 years.”
Guttmacher Institute reports one especially pernicious aspect of the law that it will allow “anyone who is opposed to abortion — regardless of where they live or whether they have any association with a patient — to sue an abortion provider or anyone who helps a patient obtain an abortion, such as by providing financial help or transportation.” Judgments of $10,000 or more could be awarded. Now, any random individual has the jurisdiction and a financial motive to interfere with a person’s private health-care decision. The use of vigilantes has no place in reproductive health care.
We want to point out the fact that when access to safe abortion care is available, the number of women suffering injury, disease, and death from unsafe or unsuccessful abortions will also decrease. These are factual assertions based on an unequivocal body of evidence. Just because abortion is prohibited does not mean the need for it will disappear. By providing communities with culturally appropriate information and access to contraception and family planning services, the number of people seeking abortions will decrease. Nonetheless, the benefits of safe and legal abortion are well documented, and this ideologically inspired assault on safe and legal abortion demands that pro-choice advocates and organizations speak out strongly against Senate Bill 8 from Texas.
Today, Population Media Center does just that. Senate Bill 8 from Texas is a nefarious, ill-willed, ill-informed piece of legislation — born from a fundamental inability to accept the complexities, social and cultural diversities, and inexorable autonomy of others. It is precisely for this reason that PMC continues to develop U.S. content that sheds light on this issue. Currently, we are in development of an original podcast, “Crossing the Line,” which tracks the real journey of people seeking an abortion in this country and how the barriers to access impact them and their lives. In this manner, we aim to provide our audience with a glimpse into the real human cost of this legislation, bringing greater awareness and less judgment on why people need to cross picket lines and state lines to terminate a pregnancy.