Texas Abortion Ban Protecting All Babies From Abortions Will Go Into Effect August 25th

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 26, 2022   |   7:31PM   |   Austin, Texas

For 328 days, Texas has protected babies with beating hearts from abortions. As the first state in the nation to successfully ban abortions thanks to its private right of action law, Texas has seen its aboritons drop over 50% as a result.

Now, thanks to the Supreme Court making its Dobbs decision official today, a Texas trigger law that bans abortions when Roe v. Wade is overturned will go into effect August 25th. That will protect all babies from abortions and only allow abortions in very limited instances.

There is a third abortion ban in Texas — the pre-Roe abortion law that banned abortions. The pro-life trigger law, that Governor Greg Abbott signed in 2021, is expected to take precedence and it will increase penalties for abortionists who kill unborn babies. Exceptions would be allowed for risks to the mother’s life or a “substantial impairment of major bodily function.” Abortionists who violate the measure could face fines or prison time.

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban can take effect and the state can continue saving babies from abortion. As a result, Texas abortion business have ceased doing abortions. Texas appealed a judge’s temporary restraining order against its pre-Roe abortion ban so it can fully enforce the law and save babies from abortions. And the highest court in Texas has ruled that it can begin enforcing the ban statewide.

Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton confirmed that the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban has come into effect to ban aboritons starting at conception.

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However, four days after the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade, a Harris County judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking some government officials from enforcing its pre-Roe abortion bans against several abortion businesses. The abortion facilities asked the judge to prevent the enforcement of Texas’ pre-Roe abortion bans against these specific abortion companies.

Current pre-Roe statutes, however, can only be enforced by local authorities with a punishment of two to five years in jail. The “trigger law” will enhance penalties to a second degree felony and will grant the attorney general authority to bring a $100,000 civil lawsuit if abortionists break the law.

There are no legal challenges at this time to the trigger law banning abortions and protecting all babies statewide.

As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, with a 6-3 majority ruling in the Dobbs case that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The high court also ruled 6-3 uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban so states can further limit abortions and to get rid of the false viability standard.

Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the judgment but, in his concurring opinion, disagreed with the reasoning and said he wanted to keep abortions legal but with a new standard.

Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was overturned and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state protecting babies from abortions and Kentucky became the 4th and Louisiana became the 5th and Ohio became the 6th and Utah became the 7th and Oklahoma became the 8th and Alabama became the 9th. This week, Mississippi became the 10th and South Carolina became the 11th,Texas became the 12th with its pre-Roe law and Tennessee became the 13th.

Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia have old pro-life laws on the books but there is question about whether they are applicable and will be enforced.

Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or quickly ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The 13 total states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer authored a joint dissent condemning the decision as enabling states to enact “draconian” restrictions on women.

Polls show Americans are pro-life on abortion and a new national poll shows 75% of Americans essentially agree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe.