Texas Heartbeat Act Quotes (1515-)

“If Texas’s scheme is permissible, no constitutional right is safe from state-sanctioned sabotage of this kind.”

“If a claimant in an S.B.8 case prevails, they are entitled to ... at least $10,000 per abortion, with no apparent maximum amount.”

“I cannot believe that people who were born after ’73 are going back to the Middle Ages. Sometimes I think it is more of a taboo now than it was then.”

“Today, Texas law SB8 went into effect. This extreme Texas law blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade and upheld as precedent for nearly half a century.”

“Herrera was arrested and served with an indictment on the charge of Murder after Herrera did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual by self-induced abortion”

“Very, Very Wrong... I wrote a dissent — and that's the way it works... [the court's decision was procedural] and so we'll see what happens in that area when we get a substantive matter in front of us”

“I fully understood that there could be legal consequences — but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn’t get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested," Braid said.”

“Today, a new law takes effect in Texas that directly violates the precedent established in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade. This all-out assault on reproductive health effectively bans abortion for the nearly 7 million Texans of reproductive age."”

“Six weeks pregnant means two weeks late for your period... And two weeks late on your period for any person -- any person with a menstrual cycle -- can happen if you're stressed, if your diet changes or for really no reason at all. So you don't have six weeks.”

“Texas law Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) has drawn significant criticism since going into effect last week, as the law bans abortions after a “fetal heartbeat” is detected—a term medical experts have criticized as misleading—and has an exception only for medical emergencies.”

“The whole case [Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. (1982)] arose because of this arbitrary power that was given to a private entity... the Supreme Court said you cannot give governmental power over peoples` lives or liberty to private bodies, that have no public accountability.”

“But I just want to him to know—I respect the man. Any man who will stand on his hind legs, knowing good and well that the whole purpose of the thing is to bankrupt any doctor who tries it, and does what he thinks is the right thing to do, I have a high degree of respect for him”

“Drucilla Tigner, policy and advocacy strategist of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the “governor’s swipe of a pen can’t change the Constitution.”
While the law amounts to the most extreme abortion ban in the country, “abortion is both legal in Texas and supported by the majority of Texans,” Tigner said.”

“... act is clearly unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent ... regardless of whether exceptions are made for particular circumstances, a state may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability.”

“The vast majority of Americans don’t want government intruding on a woman’s fundamental constitutional right to her own reproductive health care choices.  That’s why the dark-money forces behind S.B.8 engineered an anti-abortion majority on the Supreme Court – to do things the American people won’t abide from elected branches of government.”

““It’s a very unique law and it’s a very clever law,” said Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston. “Planned Parenthood can’t go to court and sue Attorney General [Ken] Paxton like they usually would because he has no role in enforcing the statute. They have to basically sit and wait to be sued.””

“This is an attack on women’s access to healthcare and on their right to choose.
[Lyft is creating a] driver legal defense fund to cover 100 percent of legal fees if drivers on its platform get sued under the new law.
[Lyft is also donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood to] ensure that transportation is never a barrier to healthcare access.”

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., slammed Abbott in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, saying he lacks basic knowledge of biology. "I'm sorry we have to break down Biology 101 on national television, but in case no one has informed him before in his life, six weeks pregnant means two weeks late for your period," Ocasio-Cortez said. "And two weeks late on your period ... can happen if you're stressed, if your diet changes or for really no reason at all. So you don't have six weeks."”

“Texas Right to Life has heard stories like this one and says it’s all a big “misunderstanding.”
The group says doctors have been misinformed, and that while the Texas anti-abortion law, known as SB 8, doesn’t define the word “abortion,” another Texas statute says “an act is not an abortion if the act is done with the intent to remove a dead, unborn child whose death was caused by” a miscarriage.
Doctors say they do understand the law - but that it’s not enough to protect them.”

“In addition to Democrats and companies like Uber, Lyft and Bumble that have already mobilized against the law, it has sparked pushback from even some anti-abortion Republicans. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday they believe the law’s lawsuit enforcement mechanism goes too far, and Kinzinger also took issue with the law not having rape and incest exceptions.”

“Ocasio-Cortez also took issue with Abbott's comments on rape, noting that the majority of people who are raped or sexually assaulted are assaulted by someone whom they know. The anti-sexual violence nonprofit RAINN says 8 out of 10 rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. "These aren't just predators that are walking around the streets at night. They are people's uncles, they are teachers, they are family friends, and when something like that happens, it takes a very long time, first of all, for any victim to come forward," Ocasio-Cortez added. "And second of all,”

“All it would take to cause the doctor ruin is a citizen who is confused about the difference between an abortion and a miscarriage, or someone who is out for money or someone who has a vendetta against the doctor or the patient.
“Physicians may be apprehensive about a situation where a woman has a miscarriage and let’s say she has an angry partner and they try to charge the physicians with aiding an abortion,” said Dr. Leah Tatum, a spokeswoman for the Texas chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.”

“Asked Tuesday about the law forcing rape and incest victims to carry their pregnancies to term, Abbott claimed the law “doesn’t require that at all” because it “provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion.” Abbott’s comments Tuesday have sparked widespread opposition from abortion rights advocates. “Greg Abbott is lying” about rape victims still being able to get an abortion, former San Antonio mayor and presidential candidate Julian Castro tweeted Tuesday, while progressive group Ultraviolet said of Abbott’s comments, “Maybe if you don't understand basic biology you shouldn't legislate bodily autonomy away.””