Texas’ “trigger law” banning abortion is now the law of the land, taking effect approximately one month after the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade.
“What it means is that there’s essentially no abortions in the state allowed, unless there is a threat to the pregnant patient by some health condition either aggravated or caused by the pregnancy,” says James Barragan, political reporter for the Texas Tribune. “It’s a very, very narrow scope. So for most intents and purposes, abortion rights advocates are saying that there is no real access to abortions in the state.”
The penalties in the law are strict: up to life in prison for a doctor that performs an abortion, and a civil penalty of at least $100,000.
“There is some confusion about how the law will be enforced,” Barragán notes,
“because this is the new trigger law. But there are also statutes in the books that are still in place from before the Roe versus Wade decision that already enacted abortion bans and had other penalties.”
For more updates from the week in Texas politics, listen to our conversation in the audio player.
