TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Sep 1, 2021

A Texas law banning virtually all abortions took effect today after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to act on an emergency application seeking to block it, the ABA Journal reports. Texas Senate Bill 8 prohibits abortions after a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat, which usually occurs around six weeks of pregnancy. The law also allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone else who helps a woman obtain an abortion. Those who sue can potentially earn $10,000 per abortion if they are successful. The Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, the Lawyering Project, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups had asked the high court to intervene. Reuters reports that the Supreme Court could still act on the matter but have already agreed to hear arguments in Mississippi’s effort to overturn Roe v. Wade.