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Texas Attorney General Paxton Defends SB8, says Heartbeat law has saved 17,000 unborn lives since it went into effect 

Mar 1, 2022

By Dave Andrusko

Attorney General Ken Paxton offered an encouraging—very encouraging—update yesterday of the life-saving impact of Texas’s Heartbeat Law (S.B.8.) championed by NRLC affiliate Texas Right to Life. According to Paxton’s office, Texas Senate Bill 8 has saved approximately 17,000 newborn lives since it went into effect on September 1, 2021. Abortions fell by 60 percent in Texas the first month after SB8 took effect.

“Simply by having SB8 enacted, thousands of lives have already been saved in Texas,” AG Paxton said in a statement. “Stopping abortion providers from conducting these barbaric practices is yet another win for our great state. I will continue to fight tirelessly for the rights of the unborn.”

Under the Texas Heartbeat Act, abortions may not be performed after the unborn child’s heartbeat is detectable – generally around the sixth week of pregnancy. Fetology textbooks show that the heart begins to beat in the developing child between 18 and 21 days after fertilization.

S.B.8 has been up and down the legal chain ever since it took effect September 1. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, the trial judge briefly blocked S.B.8 in October. His order was put on hold by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  

“The unresolved questions of state law must be certified to the Texas Supreme Court and further briefing will await that court’s decision on certification,” wrote Judge Edith H. Jones. “This court reasonably seeks the Texas Supreme Court’s final word on the matter, with no limit placed by the Supreme Court’s remand, this court may utilize the ordinary appellate tools at our disposal to address the case—consistent with the Court’s opinion.”

Put another way, they said “they couldn’t answer the enforcement question, which they say is a matter of state law,’” Eleanor Klibanoff wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a blistering dissent.

On  February 24, the Texas Supreme Court heard argument from attorneys for the Office of the Attorney General regarding whether any state governmental entity is authorized to enforce SB8.  

 “Texas’ attorneys asserted in the hearing that the Texas Heartbeat Act was specifically written to preclude all government officials (such as the agencies named in abortionists’ lawsuit) from enforcing the law,” said Kim Schwartz of Texas Right to Life. 

In 2020, about 54,000 unborn babies were aborted in Texas. About 85 percent took place after six weeks of pregnancy.

Categories: State Legislation
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