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Abortion in Texas is illegal. Texas statues, which date before Roe v. Wade, and are in effect following its overturning in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, ban all abortions except to save the life of a pregnant woman.
On September 1, 2021, abortion became illegal in Texas once electric embryonic cardiac activity can be detected. The Texas Heartbeat Act prohibits abortion when there is embryonic cardiac activity, the onset of which may be as early as 5 or 6 weeks after the first day of the woman's last menstrual period. Before this, elective abortions were allowed up to 20 weeks post-fertilization. In addition to measures passed by the Texas Legislature, there have been anti-abortion efforts at the local level, with 30 Texas cities banning abortion.
When it was introduced as Senate Bill 8, abortion providers described it as a de facto ban on abortions, as it covers abortion once "cardiac activity" in the embryo can be detected, which is earlier than most women know that they are pregnant. The characterization "de facto" is incorrect, however, because the ban on abortions based on cardiac activity is de jure, and as such expressly outlaws most abortions. The only exception for abortions past six weeks is in response to medical emergencies. The law makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, though they may be terminated before cardiac-activity detection. The law can only be enforced through private lawsuits.
The constitutionality of SB 8 is a matter of intense legal controversy. As of September 2021, several legal challenges were pending in state and federal courts.
As of December 2021, medication abortions are permitted only up to seven weeks and the patient must be examined in-person and receive the medication in-person.
Effective July 24th, 2022, abortion was outlawed in Texas following the Supreme Court's decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, giving the states the option to outlaw abortion. The State of Texas has a trigger law in place that would automatically ban all abortions in Texas thirty-days in the case that Roe v. Wade was overturned. The only scenario where an abortion would be permitted would be to save the life of a pregnant woman. The state however decided to enforce pre-Roe statutes instead which are now in effect.