Texas Governor Gregg Abbott signed on Wednesday the Heartbeat Bill that bans all abortions from six weeks onward in the state.
Reuters reported that the bill bans abortion for pregnancies in their six weeks where a "fetal heartbeat" has been identified by doctors and grants that doctors in violation of the bill to be sued in court. Reuters added that Abbott's signing of the bill is part of a string of abortion bans by Republican-led states.
Abbott announced the signing of the bill in his Twitter account saying, "In Texas, we will always lead the way to protect the unborn."
His tweet included a photo of an infant's feet enclosed in the heart-shaped fingers of a mother and the link to the Facebook Live stream of the bill's actual signing.
In Texas, we will always lead the way to protect the unborn. #ProLifehttps://t.co/Nkcs92fjk9 pic.twitter.com/K51BAgpDnJ
"” Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) May 19, 2021
"Millions of children lose their right to life every year. Texas is working to save those lives. That's exactly why the Texas legislature is in this session," Abbott announced in Facebook while the entire members of the Texas legislation stood behind him.
"This massive bill that I'm about to sign will ensure that the life of every unborn child who has a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion," he added before signing the bill.
Abbott thanked all the members of the Texas legislation, the bill's sponsors, and the pro-life groups who supported the bill before actually signing it into law that was met by the applause of every one present.
According to the state website, the bill is officially called Senate Bill 8 or the Texas Heartbeat Act and will be in effect come September 1. The bill is a companion legislation of House Bill 1515 and was primarily authored by Representative Shelby Slawson. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 14 with a 6-4 vote and the Senate with a 7-2 vote on the same day.
The law requires the physician to detect the fetal heartbeat of the unborn child prior to conducting the abortion. The physician is held not liable to the said law if there was no heartbeat detected for pregnancies of six weeks and beyond.
"Except as provided by Section 171.205, a physician may not knowingly perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman if the physician detected a fetal heartbeat for the unborn child as required by Section 171.203 or failed to perform a test to detect a fetal heartbeat," the law stipulated.
"A physician does not violate this section if the physician performed a test for a fetal heartbeat as required by Section 171.203 and did not detect a fetal heartbeat," it added.
However, the law clearly stipulated that given the conditions required of the physician, not detecting the heartbeat still does not constitute the right to abortion. Both physician and mother who violates the provisions of the law shall be subject to being sued in court.
Reuters said the bill could still be stopped in court by pro-choice groups to be in effect, citing the Center for Reproductive Rights stating that it will "pursue all legal options" to do so. The CRR released a statement that called the attention of the state to prevent the 200 physicians from Texas to be exposed to "frivolous law suits that threaten" their ability "to provide healthcare."
In addition, Reuters said Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson claimed that Abbott's signing the bill is "in defiance of public opinion" since the "state politicians remain committed to controlling" their bodies.
