Planned Parenthood is filing a lawsuit against Texas for outlawing the most common, and safest method of second-trimester abortion.
The Senate 8 Bill provision which has been banned is the dilation and evacuation abortion – a procedure which is usually performed between 15 and 24 weeks into pregnancy. It involves using instruments as well as suction to clear the uterus of fetal tissue. Medical professionals deem the banned procedure as safe. Only a year ago, the Supreme Court struck down Texas’ anti-abortion law. There are similar bans that are in effect in West Virginia and Mississippi. However, other courts have blocked similar laws in Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alabama.
If the ban gets put into effect, it is likely that women may put themselves at risk when looking for second-trimester abortions. Doctors who perform the procedure could face up to two years in prison. But, those who receive the procedure will not.
The bill also requires a burial or cremation of fetal remains, a provision which has been criticised for forcing women to suffer unnecessary trauma and has been banned under federal law since 2003. The new Texas law calls the procedure ‘dismemberment abortion’ and is set to be put in action in September. Before the law took effect, Texas had over 40 abortion clinics – they now have less than half.
The Republican Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, referred to the procedure as ‘gruesome and inhumane,’ and that he was ‘honoured’ to defend the new act in court.
The new law is one part of ‘sweeping anti-abortion legalisation’ by Governor Greg Abbott. The measures also include forbidding local governments from funding abortion providers and banning insurance companies from discussing elective abortions under primary insurance plans.
Take a look at some of the reactions to the new law below:
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.