Governer Greg Abbott signed the “heartbeat bill” into law, that would take effect September 2021, making Texas the most restrictive state in the nation regarding abortion services. The law took a measure that would ban abortions in Texas after only six weeks of pregnancy, before most women are even aware they are pregnant. This contentious law has created oppurtunities for almost any individual to sue abortion providers and raised chaos among citizens about the morality behind it. 

Pro-life groups celebrated on September 1st as the law went into effect. “Senator Cruz is proud that Texas is leading the charge to defend life,” his office said. Republican lawmakers in Florida, Arkansas, and South Dakota disclosed that they plan on bringing in similar legislation in attempts to get stricter abortion laws passed as well. Junior Tracey Traquena argues, “We should be pushing for less restrictive abortion laws instead and be more considering of the amount of rape victims or teenage pregnancies these laws affect.”

With the only exception to this law being for a mother’s health purposes, questions have come up about whether the law can be challenged on constitutional grounds as the Roe v. Wade decision guarantees a woman’s right to abortion. However, a lawsuit that deems a law unconstitutional usually names state officials as defendants. Since Texas officials are prohibited from enforcing the law, challenging the constitutionality of the law in court would be difficult. Instead, citizens with no connection to patients, clinics, or doctors may sue and receive $10,000 along with costs of any attorney fees if won. 

Arguments have risen about the moral principles behind a group of men making such a large decision that impacts women the most. “There should be more female voices in the decision making behind abortion laws especially considering it’s affecting female bodies,” history teacher Kursinski states. 

Prolifers, on the other hand, claim abortions are nearly, if not equally, as bad as murder. Whether abortion is morally permissable comes down to if one considers the fetus a person or not. What are the traits of personhood and does a fetus live up to them? Governor Greg Abbott and most prolifers would say it is the heartbeat that makes the fetus a person and therefore abortions are immoral after 6 weeks as that is when a heartbeat develops, thus the heartbeat bill. Junior Claire Choi believes, “Abortions should be allowed up until the point where the fetus develops consciousness.” The Texas Abortion law takes this line of when a fetus becomes a person out, leaving most people with the perception that the law is immoral.