最严格的堕胎法该法案于周三早些时候在德克萨斯州生效，有效地禁止了该州的诉讼程序，因为美国最高法院对妇女组织的紧急请求保持沉默健康在法律挑战仍在继续的时候，一些团体试图阻止这项措施。
德克萨斯州成为美国第一个也是唯一一个禁止怀孕六周后堕胎的州。其他12个州也通过了类似的早期禁令，但由于法律挑战，这些禁令尚未生效。
“我们仍然可以在今天晚些时候或未来几天得到(最高法院的)决定，”生殖权利中心的高级律师马克·赫伦说。“我们将继续战斗。我们没有放弃。”
德克萨斯州各地的堕胎服务提供者表示，该措施将“立即并灾难性地”阻止对德克萨斯州“至少85%”堕胎患者的护理。几个诊所报告候诊室已满直到午夜截止日期。
“我们诊所的工作人员直到昨晚11点56分才看到病人，就在6周堕胎禁令在德克萨斯州生效的3分钟前，”全女性健康(Whole Women's Health)是德克萨斯州拥有4家诊所的顶级堕胎服务提供商，发布到推特。
全国范围内实施的堕胎大多发生在怀孕6周后;得克萨斯州几家诊所的工作人员表示，他们计划周三开始拒绝病人，并将他们介绍给其他州的姐妹机构。
“我们为女性提供超声波...如果没有胎儿心脏活动，我们就能让他们为堕胎做好准备，”Whole Women's Health的首席执行官艾米·哈格斯特罗姆·米勒(Amy Hagstrom Miller)说，她说，该组织的所有诊所今天仍然开放，并为患者看病。“与昨天相比，我们只能为大约10%的人提供堕胎服务。”
大得克萨斯州计划生育呼叫中心经理瓦妮莎·罗德里格斯(Vanessa Rodriguez)表示，该组织的所有24个健康中心仍然开放，提供咨询和其他服务，包括符合法律规定的提前六周堕胎。
罗德里格斯说:“现在该州的许多德州人将不得不走数百英里才能到达他们最近的堕胎设施。“大多数德州人将无法旅行，”她补充道。“我们知道，当患者收入较低或没有证件时，这一切会变得多么困难。”
该法律，参议院第8号法案，称“医生不得故意实施或诱导堕胎……如果医生检测到胎儿心跳”，包括胚胎心脏活动，这可以在怀孕六周内观察到。
一个不同寻常的转折是，法律明确禁止国家强制执行禁令，而是授权公民个人对任何“帮助或教唆”堕胎的人提起民事诉讼，但不包括患者本人。
美国公民自由联盟(American Civil Liberties Union)在一份声明中表示:“它积极鼓励个人充当赏金猎人，如果他们成功，至少会奖励他们1万美元。
执行机制使最高法院面临的法律纠纷变得复杂，因为不清楚谁可能提起诉讼，以及私人法律诉讼可能有多广泛。
周二晚些时候，一群捍卫该法律的德克萨斯州官员在提交给最高法院的文件中写道，堕胎服务提供者“没有表明他们会受到任何人，更不用说政府，可能永远不会对他们实施的法案的伤害”。
法院只是在这一阶段被要求决定是否在低级法院诉讼程序继续进行的同时对第8条发布临时禁令。无论做出何种决定，法律专家警告称，这都不会直接影响罗伊诉韦德案的先例，也不会在全国范围内更广泛地影响堕胎权。
大法官可能会介入此事，但不会在固定的时间表内运作。
“堕胎行业正在使用他们最后的、绝望的选择，试图阻止拯救生命的德克萨斯州心跳法案，”立法主任约翰·西戈说德克萨斯州生命权反堕胎权利组织。“这起反人寿诉讼无效。”
“这是保护妇女和儿童免于堕胎的斗争中的一个历史性时刻，”反对堕胎权利的组织苏珊·安东尼名单(Susan B. Anthony List)的主席马乔里·丹内费尔瑟(Marjorie Dannenfelser)说。“我们很高兴看到[德克萨斯州]心跳法案从今天开始拯救生命。”
美国总统拜登(Joe Biden)周三中午发表声明称，“这一极端的得克萨斯州法律公然违反了罗伊诉韦德案(Roe v. Wade)确立的宪法权利，并作为先例维持了近半个世纪。”
他说:“得克萨斯州的法律将严重损害妇女获得她们所需要的医疗保健，尤其是有色人种社区和低收入个人。“而且，令人无法容忍的是，它授权私人公民对任何他们认为帮助他人堕胎的人提起诉讼，这些人甚至可能包括家庭成员、医疗保健工作者、医疗保健诊所的前台工作人员，或者与个人没有联系的陌生人。”
周三下午，妇女权利组织计划在德克萨斯州各地举行反对8号州际公路的抗议活动。与此同时，倡导者说，寻求堕胎服务的妇女现在面临着获得护理的昂贵和耗时的选择。
“患者将不得不前往州外——在大流行期间——以获得宪法保障的医疗保健，”生殖权利中心总裁兼首席执行官南希·诺苏普(Nancy Northup)说，该中心正在领导对德克萨斯州法律的挑战。“而且许多人没有这样做的手段。这是残酷的、不合理的、不合法的。”
As Texas abortion law takes effect, advocates await word from Supreme Court
The most restrictiveabortion lawin the nation took effect in Texas early Wednesday, effectively barring the procedure across the state, as the U.S. Supreme Court remained silent on an emergency request from women’shealthgroups to block the measure while legal challenges continue.
Texas becomes the first and only state in the country to outlaw abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Twelve other states have passed similar early-term bans that have not yet taken effect due to legal challenges.
"We could still get a decision [from the Supreme Court] later today or in the coming days," said Marc Hearron, senior counsel with the Center for Reproductive Rights. "We will keep fighting. We are not giving up."
Abortion providers across Texas had said the measure would "immediately and catastrophically" prevent care for "at least 85%" of Texas abortion patients.Several clinics reported full waiting roomsup until the midnight deadline.
"Our clinic staff saw patients until 11:56 last night, just 3 minutes before the 6 week abortion ban went into effect in Texas," Whole Women’s Health, a top abortion provider with four clinics in Texas,posted to Twitter.
Most of the abortions performed nationwide are after 6 weeks of pregnancy; staff at several Texas clinics have said they plan to start turning away patients Wednesday and referring them to sister facilities in other states.
"We're offering ultrasounds to women... if there is no fetal cardiac activity, we're able to prepare them for abortions," said Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Women's Health, which said all the group's clinics remain open today and seeing patients. "We can only provide abortions for about 10% of the people than we could yesterday."
Vanessa Rodriguez, call center manager for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, said all 24 of the group's health centers remain open providing consultations and other services, including abortions earlier than six weeks in compliance with the law.
"Many Texans right now within the state will have to travel hundreds of miles to get to their closest abortion facility," Rodriguez said. "Most Texans won’t be able to travel," she added. "We know how much harder all of this becomes when the patient is lower income or undocumented."
The law, Senate Bill 8, says "a physician may not knowingly perform or induce an abortion … if the physician detects a fetal heartbeat," including embryonic cardiac activity, that can be observed as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
In an unusual twist, the law expressly prohibits the state from enforcing the ban, instead authorizing private citizens to bring civil suits against anyone who "aids or abets" an abortion -- but not the patient herself.
"It actively encourages private individuals to act as bounty hunters by awarding them at least $10,000 if they are successful," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
The enforcement mechanism has complicated the legal dispute before the Supreme Court, because it is not clear who might bring a lawsuit and how widespread private legal action might be.
The abortion providers "have not shown they'll be harmed by a bill that may never be enforced against them by anyone, much less the government," a group of Texas state officials defending the law wrote in a filing with the Supreme Court late Tuesday.
The court has only been asked at this stage to decide whether or not to issue a temporary injunction on S.B. 8 while lower-level court proceedings continue. Whatever the decision, legal experts cautioned that it will not have direct bearing on the precedent in Roe v Wade or abortion rights more broadly across the country.
The justices are likely to weigh in on the matter but do not operate on a fixed timeline.
"The abortion industry is using their last, desperate option in an attempt to block the life-saving Texas Heartbeat Act," said John Seago, legislative director ofTexas Right to Life, an anti-abortion rights group. "This anti-Life lawsuit is invalid."
“This is an historic moment in the fight to protect women and children from abortion," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a group opposing abortion rights. "We’re excited to see the [Texas] Heartbeat Act save lives starting today."
President Joe Biden issued a statement midday Wednesday, saying, "This extreme Texas law blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade and upheld as precedent for nearly half a century."
"The Texas law will significantly impair women’s access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes," he said. "And, outrageously, it deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who they believe has helped another person get an abortion, which might even include family members, health care workers, front desk staff at a health care clinic, or strangers with no connection to the individual."
Women’s rights groups planned protests against S.B. 8 across Texas on Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, advocates said women seeking abortion services now faced expensive and time-consuming options to obtain care.
"Patients will have to travel out of state – in the middle of a pandemic – to receive constitutionally guaranteed healthcare," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is leading the challenges to Texas' law. "And many will not have the means to do so. It’s cruel, unconscionable, and unlawful."
