Short Version: The Texas Heartbeat Act (SB8) is not a just law, and it isn’t having the positive impact you think it is

If you’re anything like me, you probably get excited when you see abortion centers close their doors. When they close them for weeks on end or forever, you want to really celebrate.

But I’m not celebrating, and you can find out why by reading more and/or watching this video below:

I’ve been visiting abortion centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the last six years. I engage in sidewalk counseling (also known as sidewalk advocacy) to engage with women who are there for an abortion to influence them to choose not to murder their own children. The numbers might not be encouraging to you, but I’ll share them anyway. Out of 100 women I reach out to, maybe 2 to 4 will stop and have a conversation with me.

Sometimes one of those women will choose life.

But I serve a God who leaves the 99 to save the 1 (Matthew 18:12). So I and others who feel a burden for our preborn neighbors persist in this work.

It should come as no surprise that I have been closely following the development of the Texas Heartbeat Act (SB8) along with other abortion-related legislation in Texas. What might surprise you however is this: I am opposed to the Texas Heartbeat Act and all other “pro-life” legislation that seeks to incrementally regulate abortion rather than outright abolish abortion. Abolishing abortion means passing laws that would treat it just like murder. Because it is murder.

The logic embraced by the pro-life community at large is this: Human life begins at the moment of fertilization. It is at that moment that you have a new, unique human person with their own, unique DNA (distinct from both parents’). Therefore, abortion, the purposeful destruction of that life, is murder.

So you would expect that laws put forth by the pro-life community would follow this logic by treating abortion as murder. But they don’t. For decades every pro-life law passed in any legislative body in our nation has done nothing of the kind, and the Texas Heartbeat Act is no exception. Rather than treating abortion as murder, this bill simply allows private citizens to sue abortionists who conduct an abortion after a heartbeat has been detected. The mother who chooses to get an abortion is declared immune to both civil and criminal liability in this bill. Put another way, the individual who signs the dotted line authorizing the destruction of the preborn child cannot be prosecuted, sued, or otherwise held legally responsible in anyway for this now-quite-common act of prenatal infanticide.

In short, SB8 is unjust.

You may think, “Ok, so the law is unjust… but at least it’s saving lives. I mean we can celebrate that right?”

We know that God can and does work all things together for good for those who love Him. God can use an unjust law for good. I had hoped sincerely that, despite the flawed nature of SB8, it would result in a drastic reduction of abortions in our state.

However, as time passes I am less and less convinced that there has or will be a drastic reduction in abortions due to this new law, and furthermore it is possible (even likely) that there is no reduction in abortions in Texas as a result of this law.

Let me explain.

While regulations have been put in place that provide some obstacles to obtaining abortions in Texas, abortion is still legal in Texas. To be more specific, the current obstacles impact abortion providers directly, and abortion recipients indirectly. The result of this particular construct is that self-administered abortions are not illegal in any way at this time. And it just so happens that a host of organizations are willing to send abortion pills to women by mail. Some of these organizations, like Aid Access, are located overseas and have no problem sending abortifacients to places where abortion is partially or completely illegal.

In Spring 2020 the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, issued an executive order shutting down abortion centers due to COVID. It was not universally followed, and 2,856 abortions were still recorded at abortion facilities across Texas, a reduction of 1,752 from the same time the previous year.

Hey! A reduction of 1,752 abortions! Awesome, right?!

Wrong. In that same time period 947 Texans received abortion services out-of-state (an increase of greater than 600% from normal monthly numbers) and 787 individuals in Texas requested abortions by mail from Aid Access, an increase of 93.6% over the expected numbers. Combined, there were 1,734 abortions recorded out-of-state and by mail through one provider. I was unable to find data on abortifacients-by-mail through other providers, but it is reasonable to believe that those increased as well, meaning it is highly likely that the Spring 2020 Executive Order against abortions had no impact on the number of abortions in Texas.

And what does that have to do with the law today? Just like SB8, the Executive Order did not require or allow for criminal or civil penalties for the women who get abortions. It only provided obstacles for abortion providers.

Perhaps you’re optimistic, and you would like to believe this time is not like last time. While I have yet to find more complete data illuminating the state of abortion-by-mail since September 1 in Texas, I at least have this snippet from Bustle:

Interest in self-managed abortions is surging. Google Trends shows searches for the term “at home abortion” spiked the week the Texas abortion ban went into effect, as have searches for “Aid Access.” Despite Instagram twice suspending Plan C’s account before reinstating it, Plan C said its web traffic grew from 500 visits a day to 86,000 in the first week of September. Thirty percent of those visits were from Texas.

No resources I have found have yet put an exact number on how many abortions-by-mail are happening in Texas since September 1st, but based on past trends and the currently available information, it is reasonable to believe that there has been no reduction in abortions in Texas since SB8 went into force on September 1st.

No reduction in abortions due to SB8 – WHy does this matter and what can you do about it?

So it’s probable, even likely that SB8 has had no impact on the number of abortions in Texas. This is important for several reasons:

1. Some people are celebrating like abortion has been abolished when it most definitely hasn’t. In fact, if there has been any reduction in the number of abortions in Texas, it is a small one. The fact remains that every baby in the womb in Texas is still in danger of being aborted without any negative legal repercussions for anyone.
2. While abortion may not be reduced, all the abortion centers might still close down. Obviously we’re always happy to see abortion centers close down – but this further communicates to people that “the battle is won” when in fact, it is not won at all – not even close. If abortion is still legal but every abortion center closes down, how do I know where to go to speak to women who are abortion-determined? Our situation has not improved, even though it feels like it has in some respects.
3. Our legislators could have and should have done a lot more, but they willfully chose not to.

On point number three I want to dig a little bit deeper. Texas Republicans passed the Heartbeat Bill and they all patted each other on the back about it, but they refused to vote for or even seriously consider the bill to Abolish Abortion that was submitted in the last several legislative sessions.

It is time for the Church and all believers to stand up for what is right. It is time to stop accepting half-measures and incremental regulation of abortion that does not work, and communicate clearly to our government that abortion must be ABOLISHED.

So what can you and I do about it?

Pray – Ask God for revival of our people, reformation of our church, and the abolition of abortion in our nation.

Serve – Find your local church/ministry that’s already engaged tangibly helping people in this space and get involved.

Advocate – Start talking to your representatives and quit using language like “are you pro life?” Tell them you want to see abortion abolished, which means treating it exactly like murder.

If you’re in Texas I have two groups for you to look into:

lovelife.org

abolishabortiontx.org

Do you know abortion is wrong? Are you against it? Do you want to see the great evil of legal abortion end in our time? Great! Stop arguing with friends, family, and strangers about it online, and do something about it today.