TEXAS — As the state and rest of the country react to Texas’ recently enacted abortion law — regarded by most as the strictest in the nation — the Lone Star State is about to make it even tougher for women to pursue an abortion.
Earlier this week, The Texas House approved legislation that would prohibit the use of abortion medication in a critical period of pregnancy. The legislation, which passed 83-42 with one member abstaining, originated in the Senate and was passed quietly out of a House committee without testimony last week.
In Texas, the current deadline for medication-based abortion, which ends a pregnancy through the use of pills, is the 10th week of pregnancy.
Senate Bill 4 makes the new deadline seven weeks into pregnancy — before many women know they’re pregnant. SB8, which was signed into law on Wednesday, makes surgical abortion illegal after six weeks.
These pills have increasingly become the most common method for women to terminate a pregnancy if they are aware of their pregnancy early enough. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research institute that supports abortion rights, 60% of women elect to take a pill over having surgery.
In 2016, the FDA set its guidelines advising that abortion-inducing pills are safe to use up to 70 days, or 10 weeks, after initial conception.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the likelihood of complications is less than 1% when medication-based abortion is obtained in person or by telemedicine.
House Democrats introduced 17 amendments that aimed to lessen restrictions proposed in the bills, especially the restriction on medication-based abortion after seven weeks of pregnancy. Democratic lawmakers also raised multiple points of order in attempts to block the bill’s advancement.
But Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, the bill’s House sponsor, successfully defended against all challenges with the arguments that risks of complication from medication-based abortion increase after seven weeks of pregnancy and that abusers could take advantage of medication to force women to terminate pregnancies against their will.
The legislation is one of at least 561 bills restricting abortion access that have been filed or passed since January.
SB4 will also ban abortion-inducing pills from being mailed in Texas. The Biden administration, last April, temporarily allowed the medication to be mailed due to the coronavirus when in-person doctor visits were not always possible or advised.
Rep. Klick said this measure was necessary because the FDA could make the change allowing mailing pills to be permanent.
In a statement, Klick said she was motivated by the practice of out-of-state doctors taking advantage of the Biden administration’s policy to administer abortion pills by mail in Texas.
“As a nurse, I believe we had to act in order to go after these out of state individuals who are flagrantly violating Texas laws, and that is why I filed legislation to do so. With this action, Texas will codify the safety protocols needed to protect women – regardless of FDA action,” she said. “Thank you for the opportunity to serve you on the front lines in the battle to promote a culture of life that protects all Texans.”
Democrats challenged that viewpoint by pointing out the bill’s language to prevent mail-order abortion is already part of the current Texas statute, and SB4 would only encourage women to purse unsafe abortions.
“What we see in this bill are outdated medical recommendations being codified and access to medications being rolled back,” Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, said in the bill’s final hearing. “I hope in the future we will move forward on issues of women’s safety guided by evidence.”