Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year
Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
Fees: None (Free)
Volume Numbering: 13
Issue Numbering: 1
Section: B
Theme Type: Idea
Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
Theme Part: 32
Formal Sub-Theme: None.
Individual Publication Date: November 22, 2024
Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2025
Author(s): Akbar Sapie
Word Count: 498
Image Credits: Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash.
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885
Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*
Abstract
The Texas anti-abortion law signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott prohibits abortions once a ‘fetal heartbeat’ is detected, typically around six weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest and limited allowances for medical emergencies threatening the mother’s life. Enforcement is privatized, enabling private citizens to sue those aiding or performing abortions, potentially earning a $10,000 reward, creating a system akin to vigilante justice. Critics, including Dr. Sara Imershein, note the misleading use of “heartbeat,” as a six-week embryo lacks a developed heart. This law disproportionately impacts marginalized, low-income women and limits healthcare providers’ capacity to prioritize women’s health effectively.
Keywords: fetal heartbeat, marginalized women, medical exceptions, private enforcement, Texas anti-abortion law, vigilante justice, women’s health risk.
Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights
Texas Republican Greg Abbott, when signing the Texas Law, said:
Our creator endowed us with the right to life, and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year. because of abortion. In Texas, we work to save those lives.
The Texas Health & Safety Code (171.201–171.212), which has been in effect since September 2021, prohibits abortions once the ‘foetal heartbeat’ is detected, except in emergency situations, excluding pregnancies due to rape and incest.
The emergency situations are limited to “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed” (§171.002).
Unlike other states, which allow individuals to sue state officials for enforcing an unconstitutional law because these laws directly challenged the federal protection under Roe v. Wade, in Texas the drafters utilize different framing of privatization of enforcement.
As a result, judicial review can be shunned and state officials are shielded from being sued for violating the constitution, which significantly makes the law difficult to challenge.
The core idea of the Act is that whenever the fetus heartbeat can be detected, it should be considered a person and afforded rights and protections. The sentiment of defining the moral status of a fetus is based on the heartbeat itself, reflected by the code of §171.202.
However, the use of the heartbeat as the moral status of a fetus, so it deserves to be protected, is misleading, as noted by Jennifer Gunter, a well-known gynecologist and obstetrician in Canada and United State:
“An embryo does not have a heart—at least, not what we understand a human heart to be, with pumping tubes and ventricles. At six weeks, a human embryo throbs, but those tissues have not yet formed an organ, so the pulsing should not be confused with a heartbeat.”
The absurdity of the new Texas abortion law when it gives private citizens to bring civil lawsuits against any person, rather than the enforcement by the State. The person eventually will be awarded a minimum of $10,000. In other words, it allows strangers to spy on women and reflects vigilante justice.
Even though the women who seek abortion cannot be sued, it widens the criminal acts towards who “performs or induces an abortion” or any person who “aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion” once a fetal heartbeat is detected (§171.208).
This new law being enforced is not only an attack on women’s human rights; it is also a barrier for women to get access to evidence-based intervention. Such circumstances exacerbate undesirable impacts on marginalized communities—Black, Hispanic, and other women with low-income socioeconomic.
The level of ambiguity it imposes puts women’s health at risk and compromises the health professional’s ability to act in the best interests of the woman. This anti-abortion law ought to be quashed.
Footnotes
None
Citations
American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition): Sapie A. Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights . November 2024; 13(1). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/akbar-sapie
American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition): Sapie, A. (2024, November 22). ‘Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights’. In-Sight Publishing. 13(1).
Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): SAPIE, A. Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights’. In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 13, n. 1, 2024.
Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition): Sapie, A. 2024. “Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights’.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 13, no. 1 (Winter). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/akbar-sapie.
Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition): Sapie, A. “Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 13, no. 1 (November 2024). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/akbar-sapie.
Harvard: Sapie, A. (2024) ‘Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 13(1). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/akbar-sapie.
Harvard (Australian): Sapie, A 2024, ‘Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 13, no. 1, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/akbar-sapie.
Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition): Sapie, Akbar. “Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.13, no. 1, 2024, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/akbar-sapie.
Vancouver/ICMJE: Sapie A. Abortion law in Texas is an attack on human rights [Internet]. 2024 Nov; 13(1). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/akbar-sapie.
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