Abortion in Texas
Abortion in Texas is illegal in all cases, with no exceptions for rape or even to save a woman's life. A trigger law has been in effect since August 25, 2022, which bans abortion in all cases except to save the life of the mother.
On September 1, 2021, abortion became illegal in Texas (under Senate Bill 8) in cases where embryonic cardiac activity can be detected. This has been described as a de facto ban on abortions, as cardiac activity is detected earlier than when most women know that they are pregnant. Before this, elective abortions were allowed up to 20 weeks post-fertilization.
The only exception for abortions past six weeks is to save the life of a pregnant woman. In 2023, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that a pregnant woman whose fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition and whose pregnancy posed a threat to her health could not be permitted to receive an abortion. The law makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
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. Effective July 24, 2022, abortion was outlawed in Texas following the Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade, and gave the states the option to outlaw abortion. The State of Texas had a trigger law in place that would automatically ban all abortions in Texas 30 days after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The cities of Austin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, and Houston have enacted resolutions instructing city officials to deprioritize enforcement of the state's abortion laws, but anyone violating the state's abortion laws in those cities remains subject to criminal prosecution by the district attorney (a county official) and civil penalties imposed by the state attorney general.
Anyone who aids or abets an illegal abortion in Texas can be sued for wrongful death. In March 2023, a Galveston man sued three friends of his ex-wife for wrongful death after they helped her obtain illegal abortion pills that were used to terminate her pregnancy. The lawsuit is currently pending in Galveston County district court.