Chloe Taft
// How the Texas Abortion Law Could Damage America’s Democracy //
Every year, over 80 million women experience unwanted pregnancies. These pregnancies can have many negative repercussions, such as health risks, loss of autonomy, and newfound financial insecurity, and vary based on a woman’s socioeconomic status, health, and access to resources and support. Every American deserves the constitutional right to reproductive choice—a right that has been dismantled by the recent Texas abortion law.
On September 1, 2021, the Texas Legislature passed SB 8, which prohibits abortions after six weeks and shifts legal enforcement from state government to individuals, who can sue anyone who “aids or abets” in providing an abortion. The Center for Reproductive Rights, a human rights organization, challenged SB 8 in December 2021 with the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson on the basis that it contradicted Roe v. Wade, which set the precedent that there is a constitutional right to abortion. On December 10, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts have no authority over SB 8 and therefore cannot review the Texas abortion law because it is enforced by individuals rather than the state legislature. In doing so, the Supreme Court failed to block a law that threatens the very fabric of democracy, as it would set a precedent that states can override the rulings of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court must rule against Texas’ unjust abortion ban, which they had postponed earlier this year but now can rule on, not only to defend the constitutional right to abortion but, more crucially, to preserve the power of democracy in America.
Before the new Texas abortion law, many obstacles already blocked women from seeking a safe and legal abortion. Due to factors such as having to take time off work, finding emergency child-care and transportation, and obeying the state’s mandatory 24-hour waiting period after requesting an abortion, it was very difficult for women to get abortions. However, the new Texas law makes abortion almost impossible. Women deserve to choose what happens to their bodies, but they will not be able to under this new precedent.
Every woman deserves the right to safe abortion, a right which SB 8 unjustly takes away. Thus, the Texas abortion law takes an unsafe approach to the general safety of women in need of an abortion. However, the Texas Texas abortion law is ineffective, as criminalizing abortion does not actually reduce abortion rates but only increases the number of illegal and unsafe abortions. There are safer and more effective ways to reduce abortion rates, such as providing free contraception and comprehensive sexual education. Studies show that access to free birth control can reduce rates of abortion by up to 78 percent. Furthermore, 95 percent of unplanned pregnancies occur among women who do not consistently use contraception, proving the importance of free and accessible birth control in reducing abortions on a wider scale. These preventive measures, whose costs would be offset, as “every 1 million unintended births cost taxpayers $11 billion each year,” are being ignored in favor of passing restrictive and discriminatory laws to set a political precedent.
The Texas abortion law also threatens the rule of law in America. SB 8 contradicts the precedent set by Roe v. Wade, in which the Supreme Court ruled that a woman’s right to abortion is protected under the fourth and fourteenth amendments. However, the new law has not been blocked by the Supreme Court because it is enforced by private individuals, so the Court, made up of largely pro-life justices, feels that it does not have the authority to rule on it.
SB 8 could set a precedent that states can pass laws contradicting Supreme Court decisions as long as they are enforced by individuals. If more laws like this are passed, the structure of American democracy would be changed as the power of the Supreme Court would be significantly reduced. This new precedent could create radical division between states and cause large variations in legislation on even more issues such as gun control, climate change, and voting rights, across the nation. Instead of passing restrictive and unconstitutional laws, state governments should subsidize and provide free contraception and comprehensive sex education to prevent unsafe and unnecessary abortions. The Supreme Court must block Texas’ unconstitutional abortion ban, not only to protect a women’s right to reproductive choice but also to defend the rule of law.
The law deprives Texan women of their bodily autonomy (https://www.npr.org/2021/09/01/1033202132/texas-abortion-ban-what-happens-next)
