The new Texas law which bans abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy robs Texas women of choice, prioritizing the conservative and Christian belief that a fetus is a life once it has a heartbeat rather than take the woman’s life into account. In instances such as rape or a life threatening pregnancy, Texas would rather force women into a pregnancy they are not ready for or cannot withstand.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, most women find out they are pregnant when they are four to seven weeks into their pregnancy. Doctors recommend that women wait until they are five or six weeks along to undergo an abortion. With the ban in place, women will not even have a choice by the time they find out, since it is unsafe to go through an abortion before the fifth week.
The law also allows private citizens, instead of state officials, to sue abortion providers and women who seek them out. In other words, Texas would offer more protection towards a rapist by allowing them to sue their victim for seeking out an abortion. The law would have Texas citizens leading a manhunt on pregnant women.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott justified the new law by saying that rape victims will not be forced to carry out a pregnancy since they have six weeks to get an abortion. He failed to do his research on how unsafe it would be for a woman to undergo this procedure earlier than doctors recommend.
Abbott also said that Texas plans on working tirelessly to eliminate all of the rapists from the streets by aggressively going out, arresting them, and prosecuting them. If only it were that easy to rid the world of rapists.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, only four out of 10 rapes get reported and only less than a third of those are actually punished.
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, out of 1,000 sexual assaults, 975 perpetrators will walk free.
That staggering number is not that surprising when we live in a world that protects people from mask mandates because it is their body, their choice, but fails to provide women with the same privilege. The new ban would practically ban abortions altogether in Texas due to the time limit set on it. This is not an accident.
The Biden administration will not stand for this, as it is filing a lawsuit against Texas, despite the Supreme Court failing to block the ban two weeks ago.
Attorney General Merrick Garland called the law clearly unconstitutional and said that the department was exploring all options in response.
In the meantime, President Joe Biden is urging a government response to try to safeguard access to abortions in Texas. Otherwise, women will be forced to travel to a different state where abortions are legal, or cross the Mexican border to receive an abortion there since, as of Sept. 7, the procedures are legalized. On the same day, America took one step backward while Mexico advanced forward.
There is no logic in this new law, and it reveals itself for what it truly is – a vigilante law and another attack on women.
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.