德克萨斯州州长格雷格·艾伯特(Greg Abbott)签署了一项法案，禁止怀孕六周以内的堕胎，堕胎权利倡导者称之为该国最极端的堕胎禁令之一。

“我们的创造者赋予我们生命权，然而，每年有数百万儿童因堕胎而失去生命权，”艾伯特在周三签署法案前说。“在德克萨斯州，我们努力拯救那些生命。”

德克萨斯州的法律禁止一旦检测到胎儿心脏组织有节奏的收缩——也就是“胎儿心跳”——就堕胎。通常是在六周左右，一些女性甚至可能会知道自己怀孕了。医疗紧急情况下的堕胎是个例外。

所谓的“心跳禁令”还将允许任何人对医疗保健提供者或其他在检测到胎儿心跳后帮助患者堕胎的人提起诉讼，例如在经济上或通过开车送他们去约会。

卢卡斯·杰克逊/路透社，文件

2018年5月4日，德克萨斯州州长格雷格·艾伯特在德克萨斯州达拉斯发表讲话。

该法案将于9月1日生效，尽管在此之前可能会在法庭上受到质疑和阻止。在罗伊诉韦德案中，预先禁止选择性堕胎(通常在24周前)目前是违宪的。

根据生殖权利中心的说法，美国其他八个州也颁布了类似的为期六周的禁令，所有这些禁令都被法院阻止。该中心声称，德克萨斯州的法律旨在“骚扰、恐吓或使寻求护理和提供护理的人破产。”

根据生殖权利研究组织古特马赫研究所(Guttmacher Institute)的数据，德克萨斯州的法律使今年15个州实施的堕胎限制数量达到70项，其中包括10项禁令。根据该组织的说法，这是德克萨斯州在过去十年中颁布的第25项堕胎限制。该组织称，这项最新的禁令“极其残忍”，因为它允许对参与堕胎的人提起诉讼。

古特马赫研究所负责州事务的主要政策助理伊丽莎白·纳什(Elizabeth Nash)在一份声明中说:“通过允许任何人、任何地方起诉参与提供或获得堕胎服务的人，这项禁令将打开诉讼的闸门，将诊所埋葬在无聊的法庭案件和法律费用之下，并使提供者难以保持开放。”“德克萨斯州的这项禁令显然是为了控制孕妇的身体，阻止她们对自己的生活和未来做出决定。”

该法案的签署受到了反堕胎组织的欢迎，包括德克萨斯州生命权组织，该组织称该措施是“在德克萨斯州废除所有堕胎的道路上迈出的重要一步”。

根据a德克萨斯大学/德克萨斯论坛报民意调查在2月份进行的调查中，认为堕胎法应该不那么严格的受访者比例从两年前的32%上升到37%。

Ghazaleh Moayedi博士说，15年前，当她“意识到我们州迫切需要堕胎服务提供者”时，她成为了德克萨斯州的堕胎服务提供者。

“这项法案一旦生效，将会给我们州带来灾难性的后果，”GYN妇产科医师协会和生殖健康医师委员会成员莫耶迪说。“我们州仍然深受这种流行病之苦。我们是全国最没有保险的州。我们有全国最没有保险的孩子。”

当堕胎最初不是被认为在医学上立即有必要在…开始的时候新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)去年的限制，Moayedi说，她看到病人不得不等待两个月才能堕胎，而其他人则出国进行堕胎。

“在这个州，你不能停止堕胎，你只能为特定的人群停止堕胎，”她说。“在经济上、时间上、工作上、照顾孩子上，以及坦率地说，在移民身份上，谁有离开这个州的资源，而谁没有，这两者之间形成了巨大的反差。”

莫耶迪说，她希望这项禁令只是一个“宣传噱头的拍照机会”。

法案的签署是在美国最高法院宣布它将受理密西西比州对下级法院判决的上诉，该判决推翻了15周后禁止所有堕胎的州禁令。堕胎权案将于下学期审理，被视为对罗伊诉韦德案的重大挑战，也是对法院新保守派多数派在这个问题上的第一次直接考验。

在全国范围内皮尤调查上个月进行的调查显示，59%的人认为堕胎在所有或大多数情况下都是合法的。

Texas governor signs law that bans abortion as early as 6 weeks

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a bill that bans abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, in what abortion rights advocates have called one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country.

"Our creator endowed us with the right to life, and yet, millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion," Abbott said before signing the bill Wednesday. "In Texas, we work to save those lives."

Texas' law bans abortion once the rhythmic contracting of fetal cardiac tissue -- aka the "fetal heartbeat" -- can be detected. That's usually around six weeks, before some women may even know they're pregnant. There is an exception for abortions in cases of medical emergencies.

The so-called "heartbeat ban" would also allow anyone to file a lawsuit against health care providers or others who help a patient obtain an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, such as financially or by driving them to an appointment.

The bill is set to go into effect on Sept. 1, though it will likely be challenged in court and blocked before then. Pre-viability bans on elective abortions -- usually before 24 weeks -- are currently unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade.

Eight other U.S. states have enacted similar six-week bans, and all have been blocked by courts, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which claimed Texas' law intends to "harass, frighten, or bankrupt people who seek care and those who provide it."

Texas' law brings the number of abortion restrictions enacted this year to 70 in 15 states, including 10 bans, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group. It is the 25th abortion restriction enacted by Texas in the past decade, according to the group, which called this latest ban "uniquely cruel" for its provision allowing lawsuits against those involved in providing an abortion.

"By allowing anyone, anywhere to sue people involved in providing or obtaining an abortion, this ban would open the floodgates for lawsuits, bury clinics under frivolous court cases and legal fees, and make it difficult for providers to remain open," Elizabeth Nash, the principal policy associate of state issues for the Guttmacher Institute, said in a statement. "This ban in Texas is clearly about controlling pregnant people's bodies and preventing them from making decisions about their lives and futures."

The bill's signing was applauded by pro-life organizations, including Texas Right to Life, which called the measure "a vital step in the road to abolishing all abortions in Texas."

According to aUniversity of Texas/Texas Tribune Pollconducted in February, the number of respondents who said the laws on abortion should be less strict rose to 37% from 32% two years ago.

Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi said she became an abortion provider in Texas over 15 years ago when she "realized the desperate need for abortion providers in our state."

"This bill, if it goes into effect, is going to be catastrophic for our state," said Moayedi, an OB-GYN and board member with Physicians for Reproductive Health. "Our state is still very much suffering from this pandemic. We're the most uninsured state in the country; we have the most uninsured children in the country."

When abortions weren't initiallyconsidered immediately medically necessaryat the start ofCOVID-19restrictions last year, Moayedi said she saw patients having to wait up to two months to get an abortion, while others went out of state for the procedure.

"You don't stop abortions in the state, you stop abortions for only a certain group of people," she said. "There was a huge contrast between who had the resources financially, time-wise, job-wise, childcare-wise and, quite frankly, immigration status-wise to leave the state, and who could not."

Moayedi said she is hopeful the ban is merely a "publicity stunt photo opportunity."

The bill's signing comes two days after theU.S. Supreme Court announcedit will take up Mississippi's appeal of lower court decisions striking down a state ban on all abortions after 15 weeks. The abortion rights case, which will be heard next term, is seen as a major challenge to Roe v. Wade and the first direct test on the issue for the court's new conservative majority.

In a nationwidePew surveyconducted last month, 59% said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.