What to know after court’s ruling
The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade leaves many Texans with unanswered questions about the current state of reproductive health care.
Texas already imposes civil penalties for anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion after about six weeks’ gestation and threatens a felony for providing abortion-inducing medication after seven weeks of pregnancy. Now, the state’s trigger law, which could go into effect within weeks, creates additional criminal penalties for anyone who performs an abortion unless the pregnant women is dying or at risk of “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”
So what does all of that mean for you? We seek to answer your most common questions:
Can I order abortion medication out of state and have it mailed to me in Texas?
Last year, Texas imposed penalties of jail time and a hefty fine for anyone who prescribes pills for medication abortions through telehealth or the mail.
But the enforcement mechanism is unclear, said Seema Mohapatra, an expert in health law and bioethics at the SMU Dedman School of Law.
“The practical enforceability for any restrictions on medical abortion that a state puts together is going to be difficult, unless you have the post office going confiscating mail, which, with this (White House administration), is not going to happen,” she said.
Even without a practical enforcement mechanism, many providers may still fear prosecution
and refuse to prescribe the medication, Mohapatra said.
What is going to happen to Plan B?
The Supreme Court decision does not affect contraceptives such as Plan B and birth control devices such as IUDs. Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas continue to provide those, even though clinics have “paused” abortion procedures, said Dr. Bhavik Kumar, staff physician at Planned Parenthood Center for Choice in Houston.
But there is some doubt about the future of access to birth control. In a separate opinion on the Roe ruling, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Griswold v. Connecticut, a 1965 decision that declared that married couples had a right to contraception, should be reconsidered.
When does a fetus have a heartbeat? When does it become illegal to terminate a pregnancy?
The current Texas law makes it illegal to terminate a pregnancy at the first sign of detectable fetal heartbeat, which usually
begins around six weeks.
At that stage, the woman is still carrying an embryo, not a fetus. Often, she has just missed her first period and may not know she is pregnant. That’s why abortion has been effectively banned in Texas since the law took effect last year.
What if I want to get an abortion before the Texas trigger law takes effect in 30 days?
The answer is murky. Though the Texas trigger law doesn’t immediately take effect, abortion clinics are uncertain whether laws already on the books will allow prosecutors to enforce criminal penalties immediately, said Kumar.
That’s why Planned Parenthood clinics, as well as Whole Women’s Health, have already paused all abortions.
“It’s a very scary moment, because we’ve already seen states start to move toward criminalizing (abortion),” said Kumar. Some attorneys general tend to be “very relentless, erratic and ruthless when it comes to enforcing policies against people getting access to this care.”
If I have abortion medication on hand, how long is it good for? Can you use it after the expiration date?
The abortion pill — the common name for two medications, Mifepristone and Misoprostol, usually taken in tandem — can be used up to 11 weeks after the date of the person’s last period, according to Planned Parenthood. The World Health Organization recently issued guidance saying the medication can safely be used up to 12 weeks.
The medications usually carry a two-year shelf life. The potential harmful effects of using them beyond that window are unclear, said Kumar. Climate and temperature may affect their effectiveness, he said. In general, the medication should be used before the expiration date to work as intended, he said.
What’s the closest trip out of state for an abortion clinic?
Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have laws protecting the right to an abortion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Seventeen other states have no laws protecting or banning the procedure.
Right now, the closest options for Texans to receive a legal abortion include New Mexico, which does not have any restrictions on the procedure. Texans can also receive an abortion up to 22 weeks in Kansas and Georgia and up to 24 weeks in Florida.
Colorado also expressly protects the right to an abortion at any stage of pregnancy.