Even as the Biden Administration is suing the state of Texas over the most restrictive abortion law in the nation, Gov. Greg Abbot signed a new bill into law increasing restrictions on the mail-order provision of abortion medication.
The law would push back the limit on prescribing abortion-inducing drugs from the current 10 weeks gestation to seven weeks.
The Texas legislature approved SB4 in a special session ending September 2.
Will Metcalf, a Texas state representative who co-sponsored SB 4, tweeted after its passage that it would crack down on “unsafe ‘mail order’ abortions and increase the reporting requirements for complications resulting from all types of abortion.”
Signed by the Republican governor with little fanfare last Friday, the new law goes into effect December 2. If not blocked by courts, it would bolster legal protections for unborn children in the state, along with the law that took effect September 1, banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.
Those who “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly” violate the law by providing medication through the mail will now face criminal penalties – as much as $10,000 in fines and two years in prison – including providers from out of state, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The law also applies to international organizations providing abortion medication through the mail.
Newsweek reported that soon after SB8 went into effect, Texas women were going online for information on abortion pills.
Of the newest bill signed by Abbot last week, Texas Right to Life Senior Legislative Associate Rebecca Parma told Aleteia Wednesday that her organization "supported this Pro-Life policy during the legislative session. Returning the limit on use of abortion-inducing drugs to seven weeks gestational age is in line with the FDA’s initial standards on the use of these drugs in 2000 under the Clinton Administration. This new Texas law includes other requirements hearkening back to those initial FDA standards as well. This seven-week limit is prudent given the fact that the rate of complications for women increases with increasing gestational age of the preborn child.”
