A Texas law that prohibits abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy went into effect today after silence from the U.S. Supreme Court. The law is almost a complete ban on abortion in Texas, since many women do not even know they are pregnant at that point.
The law not only bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, but also allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs an abortion or provides assistance to a person seeking one (including but not limited to doctors, clinic staff, abortion funders, even the Uber driver who took a patient to a clinic.)
The horrifying law in Texas is just one of a slate of laws that Republican legislatures are passing in an attempt to gut or overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortions conducted before the point of fetal viability.
In fact, the Supreme Court is due to rule on the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that bars abortion at 15 weeks in its upcoming term that begins next month. With three new Trump-appointed justices on the Court, Roe v. Wade has never been in more danger.
And our work to elect progressive women who support reproductive freedom to state and local office has never been more important. We are more determined than ever to change the face of power and protect our rights in North Carolina.
