Women’s Reproductive Rights-and More-Under Threat
In a 5-to-4 vote on September 1, the Supreme Court allowed Texas to put into place the most restrictive abortion law in the nation. It bans abortions, with no exception for rape or incest, as early as the sixth week in a pregnancy based on the presence of a fetal heartbeat. Furthermore, the law empowers citizens to sue those who perform an abortion or anyone who aids and abets the procedure. If successful, the individual pursuing the lawsuit can receive $10,000. Are not such vigilante tactics encouraging citizens to enforce the law a form of bounty hunting?
No one is better able to help us understand this legislation and its implications for all Americans than Heather Cox Richardson, Professor of History and Boston College. In her September 3, 2021 “Letters from an American” she provides the historical framework for civil rights legislation in the post-World War II era. Her letter places this Texas legislation and the assault on Roe V. Wade into the broad context of civil rights in this country over the past 75 years.
