Abortion

Restrictive abortion laws across the South mean more women are traveling across state lines to find safe services.

Una ley estatal podría eliminar acceso a todos los abortos comenzando a las seis semanas de un embarazo.

Senate Bill 4 would limit the timeframe a person could get a medication abortion from 10 weeks into a pregnancy to seven weeks.

In effect, the law could eliminate access to all abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

Legislatures across the country have passed a record 90 abortion restrictions and bans in 2021. Anti-abortion-rights activists hope a conservative Supreme Court will uphold those laws.

Ten states have already passed so-called "trigger bans" as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a Mississippi abortion case.

Under a bill signed into law by Gov. Abbott on Wednesday, private citizens can sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion.

The state law bans most abortions after 15 weeks. The lower courts blocked its enforcement, finding it in conflict with Roe v. Wade and subsequent abortion decisions.

Opponents say its broad legal language could open the door to harassing or frivolous lawsuits that could have a “chilling effect” on abortion providers.

The bill, which is close to making its way to the governor’s desk, makes abortion illegal before the point when many women don’t yet know that they’re pregnant.