AUSTIN, Texas — On Tuesday, the Texas Senate passed six anti-abortion bills that could completely upend abortion practices within the state. The following day, they passed a seventh.
Currently, Texas law states that those who want to receive an abortion can get the procedure up to 20 weeks of gestation, unless there are severe complications or the fetus has a severe abnormality. Candidates for the procedure must meet with their abortion provider twice, and minors need consent from their parents.
Should these bills be passed by the Texas House of Representatives and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, the window for abortions could be decreased to eight weeks or the procedure could be done for entirely.
Until then, here’s what you need to know about each of the anti-abortion bills passed by the Texas Senate.
Senate Bill 8
SB 8 looks to ban abortions once the fetus has a heartbeat as well as allow private citizens to sue abortion providers who fail to comply.
A fetal heartbeat is usually developed six weeks into a pregnancy. Since most women learn about their pregnancy between weeks four through seven, this bill would prevent women from getting an abortion before they can even realize they are pregnant.
The bill would also enable citizens to sue any person who “performs or induces an abortion in violation of this chapter” or “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion, including paying for or reimbursing the costs of an abortion through insurance or otherwise.”
A bill would allow the defendant to be fined $10,000 or more for each abortion.
Senate Bill 9
Most abortions would be illegal under SB 9, but the bill can only take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey wholly or partly or if the Court grants states the power to prohibit abortion. The Supreme Court currently holds a 6-3 conservative majority.
The bill would allow the government to charge abortion providers with a second degree felony for attempting the procedure. Successful procedures would earn providers a first degree felony. In addition to criminal offense, the bill would make offenders subject to a $100,000 minimum fine for each attempted procedure.
Abortions would only be allowed if the pregnancy threatens the mother’s life. Physicians whose treatment leads to the “accidental or unintentional injury or death of the unborn child does not constitute a violation.”
Senate Bill 394
SB 394 states that “a person may not knowingly give, sell, dispense, administer, provide, or prescribe an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant woman for the purpose of inducing an abortion.”
Only physicians can provide such drugs if they are FDA approved, and pregnant women cannot receive abortion-inducing drugs if their “pregnancy is beyond 49 days gestational age” or seven weeks. According to the FDA, pregnant women can use abortion-inducing pills before 10 weeks of pregnancy have passed.
It would still make it illegal for abortion-inducing drugs to be delivered or shipped through the mail.
Senate Bill 650
SB 650 would not allow any government entity to “enter into a taxpayer resource transaction or appropriate or spend money” to help a woman receive an abortion or provide logistical support. This means the state would not pay for items like child care, travel to or from an abortion provider or counseling that encourages abortions.
This bill was created to supplement Senate Bill 22 from last session, where local government entities were prohibited from giving money to abortion providers and affiliates.
Senate Bill 802
Through this bill, a physician would be required to present the mother with a “pre-abortion resource access assistance offer” with the only exception being a medical emergency.
The pre-abortion assistance offer would be required to come from “a counselor, doctor, psychologist, social worker, nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, community health worker, physician’s assistant, or marriage and family therapist.” The offer could not come from anyone who had recently performed an abortion, and they would not be allowed to “refer women to an abortion provider, recommend abortion, or take any other action that directly or indirectly advises or assists a woman in obtaining an abortion.”
The offer would be free, and charges would be covered by the state. According to a fiscal note attached to the bill, the offer would cost the state $7 million.
Senate Bill 1173
SB 1173 aims to ban abortions where a severe fetal abnormality is detected. Additionally, under the bill, a person would not be allowed to “perform or attempt to perform on a pregnant woman an abortion based on the race, ethnicity, sex, or disability of the woman’s preborn child, including a probability of diagnosis that the child has a disability.”
Senate Bill 1647
This bill combines both SB 8 and SB 9.