WASHINGTON — One year ago on Sept. 1, 2021, Texas’ Senate Bill 8 took effect and permanently altered the country’s abortion landscape, lending serious...
SB 8, which relied on the threat of civil lawsuits and $10,000 fines to enforce its ban on abortions as soon a embryonic cardiac activity is detected, remained in effect in Texas until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, when a pre-Roe ban on abortions took effect., makes performing an abortion after conception a felony.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an outspoken proponent of SB 8 and a key figure in Texas’ push to ban abortions, and other anti-abortion Republicans have celebrated Roe v. Wade’s downfall and the trigger ban now in place. Paxton’s Democratic challenger, Rochelle Garza, is an abortion rights advocate and has fought for reproductive rights for immigrant teens in detention.