Basics of Texas Abortion Ban

On Sept. 1, Texas Governor Greg Abbott passed Senate Bill 8, prohibiting abortions when cardiac activity is detectable, which can be as early as six weeks. 

The bill allows regular citizens to sue those who help a Texas resident receive an abortion (the doctor, driver, etc.), but not the abortion recipient themselves. It also prohibits law enforcement officers and other public officials from filing civil lawsuits against abortion providers. This clause protects the government from violating Roe v. Wade.

Allowing citizens to take abortion providers to court empowers distant family members, bystanders, and even strangers to enforce the ban. In addition, courts will award plaintiffs a minimum of $10,000 in damages and the cost of any attorney fees if they are successful in court. 

The law makes an exception for abortion cases in which the doctor believes the pregnancy is a risk to the mother’s health. However, there is no exception for cases of rape or incest. A clause of the bill states that rapists cannot sue. 

The policy also disproportionally affects Black women and people from lower-income communities who have less access to out-of-state abortions or attorney fees if sued. 

Many throughout the country — and in the School’s community — are reeling from the recent decision. 

“I feel upset for the obvious reasons. This bill and previous pieces of legislation are a huge restriction on bodily autonomy, privacy, and women’s rights,” said Audrey Andel, the Women’s Affinity Group co-president. 

However, according to Andel, the School lacks an emotional investment in the current abortion conversation. 

“It’s easy for students to feel detached from the issue,” she said. “I often find that Head-Royce students and Bay Area residents in general feel very detached from other parts of the country, particularly southern states like Texas, which upsets me. Now is the time to let go of this, because we can’t make change if we don’t feel empathy for/connection with women all across the country.”
The School’s mission is to encourage “responsible global citizenship,” but three weeks after what some are calling a major threat to human rights, the administration and student body are relatively silent. According to Andel, the Women’s Affinity Group “hope[s] to continue to raise awareness on the issue while [they] work on some solid and impactful action steps.”