The knell of clocks striking midnight in Texas on Wednesday marked a grave turn in the fight for (and preservation of) women's rights and access to healthcare in the state and the country.
This week, the Supreme Court of the United States chose not to rule on an emergency application of the courts which was brought before them in an effort to challenge the Texas legislation (known dryly as Senate Bill 8 or SB 8) banning abortion at 6 weeks, effectively permitting the law to go into effect on Wednesday. What this legislation, which would ban approximately 85% of abortions in the state, means for the future of abortion and Roe v. Wade in the US is still unclear, but it has been a huge cause for concern among women's rights and health advocacy groups across the nation.
Senior Associate Alex Berke's latest piece for the Daily Beast teases out some of the implications and details of this Texas law and how it doesn't bode well for abortion rights in the future. You can find the article here, and read an excerpt below:
"By empowering any American to file a lawsuit against abortion clinics, as well as the individuals—including receptionists and volunteers—who work in them or supposedly aid and abet them, SB 8 creates unsustainable legal and financial risk for abortion clinics to continue functioning in Texas.”
