A bill considered by members of the Texas House of Representatives this week would have criminalized abortions and opened up the possibility for women and physicians to receive the death penalty. The bill would have allowed women who obtained an abortion or doctors who performed one to be charged with assault or criminal homicide, the latter of which is punishable by death in Texas. “Abortion opponents are emboldened to try all kinds of very extreme pieces of legislation.”But this Texas bill appeared to be too extreme even for some abortion opponents, Nash said. Farrar said the text of the bill showed a clear intention to contradict Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion. Other states, like Ohio and Tennessee, are considering so-called trigger laws, which would immediately ban abortions if Roe v. Wade were overturned.

Source: National Post April 11, 2019 14:37 UTC