Texas Abortion Law
Since the Supreme Court ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973, which established legal abortions across the United States, national controversy continues as to when a fetus should be considered viable. Texas legislators recently fueled this fire by passing a law banning abortions performed later than six weeks after conception. This law allows citizens to sue abortion providers, anyone who helped a woman in the process of getting an abortion, and the woman herself, gaining at least $10,000 for doing so. It does not mention rape or incest cases.
Constitutionally, this raises complex issues of legality, according to Social Studies Department Chair Paul Stellpflug..
“It seems to me Texas is trying to say that a woman no longer has the right to privacy after six weeks,” he said.
The Fourth Amendment, a valuable staple in American society, protects against improbable search and seizure and for the right to privacy of persons, houses, and papers. The Texas legislature has interpreted that this term isn’t explicitly stated in the Constitution. However, this has triggered more debate as to its constitutionality.
“Portions of it might be found to be unconstitutional,” Stellpflug said. “For example, the fact that the law tells the government that it can not enforce the law, it allows and encourages regular citizens to enforce the law.”
An even more contentious issue amongst legal scholars is whether Texas lawmakers are defying Roe v. Wade. . In 1970, a woman by the name of Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas. Roe challenged a Texas law that sought to make abortions illegal, except in rare cases when the woman’s life is endangered. In her case, she said that the law was unconstitutionally vague and broke the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, similar to the current law’s detractors.
At a basic level, the conflict for some stems from a woman’s individual rights and choices surrounding her body.
“Most people who end up being pregnant don’t even find out until five weeks, or even after six weeks,” an anonymous senior said. “This is definitely against Roe v. Wade. It’s like treating a person who is pregnant like a vessel for an unborn child, rather than an actual human being who has their own rights.”
Like all political issues, the abortion topic has turned binary, according to Stellpflug.
“There’s pro-life groups who hire lawyers, who hire scholars, who will look at every possible angle to maneuver within the confines of the Constitution, but yet not violate it,” he said.
The pro life or pro choice binary at work in Texas has states around the country looking on with interest as they examine their own laws.The states most interested in enacting change make up the Bible Belt of the southern US, according to Stellpflug.
“It shows religious power in the United States compared to other Western Democratic Republics,”he said.
Stellpflug is not alone in this sentiment..
“From what I understand,” said the anonymous student. “Mississippi is already trying to overturn Roe v. Wade […] and I think that a few of the other Southern states might.”
Despite this, citizens of Texas and other protesters of the new law still have hope that it is thrown out. Regardless, legal changes could lead to improvement in the world of proactive health management.
“I do think that other states will start taking better action about things like sexual education so that people are able to make smarter choices, have more easily available contraceptives, and things like that,” the anonymous senior said..
Stellpflug sees the possibility of a new type of prescriptive lawmaking.
“It might be the beginning of a new type of legislature,” he said.
Ironically, laws around the world show a counterintuitive nature..
“If you look at some of the countries where abortions are easy to have and are free, they have less per women,”Stellpflug said. “So I’m curious as to why countries where abortions are free and easy to get have a lower abortion rate than America does. It leads me to encourage Americans, especially our political class, to do some research.”
By Len Kloss and Abigail Conklin
Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue 1
October 6th, 2021