CV NEWS FEED // New data released by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission this week revealed that the Texas heartbeat law cut abortions by 60% in the first month after the legislation went into effect in August 2021.
More than 5,400 preborn children were aborted in Texas during the month of August. In September, that number fell to just over 2,200.
Abortion organizations lamented the lost business in statements to the media, many of them noting that the Texas law is not likely to remain a unique pro-life victory. The Supreme Court is now considering the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a potential landmark in the cause against abortion. The Court has signaled that it may rule in favor of the State of Mississippi, a party to the case, whose own pro-life law bans abortions after 15 weeks of gestation.
Such a ruling could eliminate core components of the Roe and Casey abortion cases, which prohibit many legal protections of the unborn and hampers state-by-state pro-life legislation.
As the Associated Press reported this week:
Planned Parenthood issued a statement calling the numbers “the very beginning of the devastating impact” of the law.
…Since the Texas law took effect, similar measures have been introduced in GOP-controlled statehouses nationwide, but none have passed. Arizona Republicans this month continued moving swiftly to outlaw abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
…At least 12 states have “trigger bans” on the books, with restrictions that would kick in automatically if the justices overturn or weaken federal protections on abortion access.
“We already knew the Texas Heartbeat law was a historic pro-life victory,” said CatholicVote Communications Director Joshua Mercer on Thursday:
That’s why pro-lifers worked so hard to see it go into effect. But these numbers out of Texas are a great reminder of the real-world effect pro-life legislation has. We’re talking thousands of lives saved – and that’s just in the first month. As Catholics, we need to keep praying for our justices and for the Dobbs case. Because what we’re seeing in Texas? Unborn children all over the country deserve that too.
