Good morning, 

Could abortion soon be abolished in Texas?

Here is the Texas Minute for Monday, May 9, 2022.

– Brandon Waltens 

• Last week’s headlines were largely dominated by a bombshell leak out of the United State Supreme Court, revealing that court could potentially overturn two landmark abortion cases.
   
• At issue before the court is a case brought by a Mississippi law prohibiting abortion. Early last week, Politico released a leaked draft of an opinion from the court that would effectively return the power to regulate abortion to the states, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. 
   
• While the ultimate decision is expected to be released in June or July, discussion about the effects the decision could have for Texas has already kicked off.

• Going into the legislative session last year, one of the legislative priorities of the Republican Party of Texas was abolishing abortion. 
   
• While legislation to completely outlaw abortion immediately did not move, the Texas Legislature did pass Senate Bill 8, also known as the Heartbeat Act,  which prohibits abortions when a heartbeat is detected—usually around six weeks. 
   
• Since going into effect in September, the bill has been estimated to save 100 lives a day in Texas.
   
• On the same day the piece of legislation was passed in the Texas House, another bill was also approved by lawmakers—House Bill 1280. Known as a “trigger bill,” this law would outlaw abortion to the fullest extent allowed if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned by the Supreme Court.

• Reaction from Texas Republicans and Democrats to the potential decision from the court was swift. 
   
• “When Roe is overturned, the voters of each state will have the ability to decide if abortion is legal where they live and under what conditions. The RPT platform calls for the reversal of Roe v Wade and the abolition of abortion. To this end, it was a legislative priority of the Republican Party of Texas for the 87th Texas Legislative Session to abolish abortion, and we supported 11 bills on the subject.” –Texas GOP
   
• Democrats, meanwhile, have doubled down down on their support for unrestricted abortion. 
   
• “No child or adult should be forced to carry a pregnancy to term against their will. Period.” –Texas Democrat Party

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.