Examining the Legal Implications and Ramifications of the New Bounty-Hunting Texas Abortion Law

Examining the Legal Implications and Ramifications of the New Bounty-Hunting Texas Abortion Law

By guest contributor Astha Bhattacharya*   Despite a new era of pro-choice feminism overtaking the globe, Texas has passed Senate Bill No. 8, instituting one of the world's most stringent abortion bans. The bill, dubbed the "fetal heartbeat bill," outlaws all abortions after the "first detectable heartbeat." In this piece, I'll take a two-pronged approach to the legislation. First, I'll go over the scientific and medical challenges that the law presents. Then I'll show how the law infringes on women and their globally recognized human and reproductive rights, primarily targeting certain groups of women. SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE Science can't say with certainty when an embryo becomes a "human being." Researchers have recognized up to five distinct developmental stages, any of which could be a viable starting place for human life. The fourth step, which is viability, is clearly ascertainable. The point at which a fetus can successfully survive outside of the uterus with medical assistance is known as viability. This is the stage that the...
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“Abort the Government”: Polish Citizens Challenge Poland’s Retreat to Autocracy

“Abort the Government”: Polish Citizens Challenge Poland’s Retreat to Autocracy

By Ali Cain, RightsViews staff writer and a graduate student in the European History, Politics, and Society  MA Program Over the last three weeks, Polish citizens have ignited the country’s biggest protests since the 1989 pro-democracy movement in response to the passing of a de facto abortion ban. Although Poland already had the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, its highest court, the Constitutional Tribunal, concluded that performing abortions, even in situations where a baby would be born sick or disabled, violates the Constitution’s guarantee to the protection of life. This ruling poses immense infringements on women’s rights and pushes the country into deeper democratic backsliding.  Despite Polish President Andrzej Duda announcing that the ban would be delayed indefinitely, protests have developed into a larger retaliation against the ruling far-right Law and Justice Party (PiS). Since its rise to power in 2015, the Party maintains support by enflaming cultural tensions over LGBTQ+ rights, migration, and abortion. Prior to the Tribunal’s ruling, women...
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