Texas’s new anti-choice law took effect yesterday, barring most abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Instead of authorizing governmental officials to enforce the law, as is typical with anti-choice laws, the law allows private individuals to sue abortion providers and anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion.
Christian D. Menefee, the County Attorney for the largest county in Texas, stated:
“This law is a dangerous attack on women’s reproductive health. It bans abortions before most women even know they’re pregnant, effectively ending all abortions in Texas. It gives a green light to anti-choice activists to drag women and their healthcare providers into courts and publicly shame them for their medical decisions. No doctor should be made to pay for providing necessary healthcare. No woman should have to drive to another state for an abortion. And no one should be dragged into expensive and burdensome lawsuits because of a medical decision the United States Supreme Court has time and time again said is legal.
The Texas Legislature drafted the law to let any person enforce it because it believed it could evade review by the Supreme Court. But I’m hopeful the courts will see this law for exactly what it is: a dangerous and blatant attempt to undermine Roe v. Wade.”
