TEXAS — If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade later this year, abortion will become illegal in Texas in almost all circumstances. Texas is among 13 states with so-called trigger laws. In the Lone Star State, the law would go into effect 30 days after the court’s decision.

What You Need To Know

  • Five district attorneys from some of Texas’ largest counties recently issued a statement in which they said they will not prosecute women for abortions if Roe. V. Wade were to be overturned

  • The statement followed a case in Starr County in which a woman was charged with murder, apparently after seeking an abortion. Charges were dropped

  • The U.S. Senate on Wednesday is set to vote on a bill that would codify Roe v. Wade

  • State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, is planning legislation that would allow district attorneys to prosecute women for abortions in counties “outside their home jurisdiction” or “when the local district attorney fails or refuses to do so

However, in a statement, five Texas district attorneys said they condemn “efforts to criminalize abortion” and pledged “not to prosecute personal healthcare decisions. “

The district attorneys are José Garza from Travis County, John Creuzot from Dallas County, Joe Gonzales from Bexar County, Mark Gonzalez from Nueces County and Brian Middleton from Fort Bend County.

Texas already has the most restrictive abortion law in the country in place.

“When the Texas legislature passed SB8 – which bans abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant – we knew that women in desperate situations would resort to unsafe procedures to terminate their pregnancies,” the statement reads. “When they lack other alternatives, some women feel forced to make these life-threatening decisions. Sadly, we have witnesses these same dangerous tragedies before when the government has taken away a woman’s right to make choices about her body. Making abortion illegal does not end abortion, it simply ends safe abortions for too many.”

The statement was issued prior to the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that signaled the court may be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 decision.

It came in the wake of a case in Starr County case in which a woman was held in jail on $500,000 bond for murder charges. She apparently ended her pregnancy. The charges were dropped.

“This tragic incident is a troubling but unsurprising outgrowth of the misguided efforts in various parts of the country, and especially in Texas, to outlaw personal healthcare and reproductive decisions,” the statement reads.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday will vote on a bill to codify Roe v. Wade, though it has little chance of passing. If Roe were to be struck down, Texas counties would likely become abortions battlegrounds. The Texas Tribune recently reported that state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, is planning legislation that would allow conservative district attorneys to prosecute women for abortions in counties “outside their home jurisdiction” or “when the local district attorney fails or refuses to do so.”

“As elected prosecutors, we are committed to protecting the safety and well-being of all individuals in our communities. We are also charged with protecting the integrity of our justice system and upholding the rule of law,” the statement reads. “That is why we joined in the pat with other elected prosecutors around the nation in making clear that we will not prosecute or criminalize personal healthcare decisions – that is not what a system grounded in compassion, justice, or equity should be about.”