In Texas, USA, a law has come into force according to which women are not allowed to have an abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy. He has already begun to act. What do the Americans and the President of the country think about this? Read today in USA.ONE :
Texas banned abortion after 6 weeks
Comment by Joe Biden.
Restriction of abortion law has come into force in Texas 
The so-called & # 34; Heartbeat Act & # 34; Governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott signed in May this year. Several organizations, including the Civil Liberties Union and the Planned Parenthood network of women's clinics, have tried to challenge him in the Supreme Court. On Monday, August 30, these and other organizations asked to suspend the law in Texas while its legality is being challenged in the courts. Late Wednesday night, September 1, the Supreme Court formally rejected the request. Five of the nine Republican-appointed judges voted to implement the law.
Liberal Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who voted against, said the ruling was overwhelming, and her colleagues simply chose to bury their heads in the sand and turn a blind eye to an unconstitutional law that flagrantly violates women's freedom to exercise their rights. Opponents of the Texas law are trying to challenge it in lower federal courts so that it can go to the Supreme Court again and be considered on the merits. According to the Civil Liberties Union, millions of Texas women have literally lost their abortion rights.
US President Joe Biden has already commented on this. In particular, he said:
& # 34; The law passed in Texas grossly violates the constitutional right established in the case of Roe v. Wade, which was considered as a precedent for almost 50 years & # 34 ;.
This is the 1973 case, when the Supreme Court legally secured the right to abortion for US residents. The President called the Texas law «an unprecedented attack on the constitutional rights of women». He announced that he is starting a & # 34; inter-agency effort & # 34; to combat it and has already tasked the Gender Policy Council and White House Lawyers with figuring out how the government can help ensure that Texas women have access to legal and safe abortion, and what legal tools are in place to shield health care providers and women from a strange state system that empowers individuals & # 34 ;.
Texas is considered a conservative state and the second largest and most populous state. The issue of abortion has divided American society and remains one of the most pressing at the moment. It is believed that at 6 weeks, the heart begins to beat in the fetus, although doctors call this approach misleading. Together with women's rights activists, they criticized the new law, according to which anyone can sue a doctor who has an abortion after the deadline.
According to available data, 90% of abortions so far have occurred at a longer term 6 weeks. According to representatives of the Planned Parenthood network of clinics, the innovation is a gross violation of the US Constitution.
& # 34; In any case, we will not back down and continue to fight. Everyone has the right to have an abortion, & # 34; — they wrote on their Twitter page.
What is the new law about? 
According to the Supreme Court ruling in Rowe v. Wade, from 1973, American women have the right to terminate pregnancy before the term when the fetus becomes viable outside the uterus, and this is the 22-24th week. & # 34; Heartbeat Act & # 34; shortens this period by more than three times. Opponents of the law say that many women within 6 weeks do not yet realize that they are pregnant. And the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists insists that the concept of & # 34; about the heartbeat & # 34; erroneous. They say that at this time there is only a lump of tissue from which the heart has yet to develop as the embryo grows.
Until now, any restrictive law of this kind in the United States threatened doctors with criminal prosecution for violating it and even a ban on the continuation of medical practice. Authors of the & # 34; Heartbeat Act & # 34; first resorted to the right to civil action to monitor compliance with the law. This means that any person, not necessarily a Texas resident, even if the case does not concern him, can file a lawsuit with a request to fine anyone involved in illegal abortion for 10 thousand dollars.
These include not only doctors, but also hospital staff, family members, and even the priests who gave the woman “wrong”. advice. The only exception can be abortions for medical reasons, and then only with a written doctor's opinion.
Now, women from Texas who want to terminate their pregnancies beyond 6 weeks will have to travel out of state. It is about a distance of up to 400 km. According to Kim Schwartz of the Texas anti-abortion organization Right to Life, the court often drags out illegal abortion cases for years, violating the will of the people. In her opinion, the courts will decide on fines only if there is solid evidence. And the Civil Liberties Union believes that the law will become a way to put pressure on doctors and women, as well as a tool for hunting for profit.
What do Americans think of Texas law
According to a June poll, most US residents believe abortion should be legal until the fetus can exist on its own outside the womb. They support the Rowe v. Wade judgment. Citizens' opinions were divided along party lines: the legality of abortion was supported by 70% of Democrats, 35% of Republicans and 47% of independent voters.
According to a Pew Center poll, 59% of US residents support the right to terminate pregnancy «in all or most cases», and 39% are against it. A poll in April in Texas found the & # 34; Heartbeat Act & # 34; supports half of the state's population.
The new Texas law is just one attempt to curtail abortion rights in Republican-controlled states. There were more of them in 2021 than in the last 50 years. A 6-week threshold for women to decide whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy was also set in South Carolina, Idaho and Oklahoma, but counterclaims quickly blocked its entry into force.
Opponents of abortion began to feel more confident after how the composition of the Supreme Court has changed. Conservatives and Libers are now represented in a 6: 3 ratio. Abortion advocates fear that it could ultimately lead to a re-trial of Rowe v. Wade, and the issue of termination rights will fall under the control of each individual state. This means that Republican-led conservative states could ban abortion altogether.
How far the Texas example will go is unknown, but in a speech on Thursday, September 2, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House Representatives will discuss and vote on legislation that would prohibit states from limiting abortions in the same way they did in Texas.
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