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Supreme Court
Sentiments on the hot-button issue aside, let’s discuss what the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a ruling establishing the right to abortion that has been in effect since 1973, means for Fort Worthians.
The decision to overturn the landmark ruling does not immediately make abortion illegal. Instead, abortion laws will now be left up to the states; it is no longer a constitutionally-protected right. With that said, abortions will likely remain legal in states like California and New York and will become illegal (or at least highly restricted) throughout most of the south and central United States.
Texas, for instance, already has a trigger law in effect, meaning once the Supreme Court hands down any law overturning Roe v. Wade — as it did today — abortions will effectively become illegal throughout the state in 30 days. Narrow exceptions include saving the life of a pregnant patient or preventing “substantial impairment of major bodily function.” This means the state legislature won’t have to go through the process of presenting and debating any new bills in session — and then sending such a bill to the governor’s office — in order to make abortions illegal. The state legislature has already banned abortions retroactively.
For Fort Worthians, that means the likely closure of two abortion clinics that currently operate within the city limits: Whole Woman’s Health and a Planned Parenthood clinic in southwest Fort Worth. The clinics could become resource centers for pregnant women — Fort Worth has several such resource and counseling centers, all of which will likely remain open — but they will have to cease providing abortions.
Due to recent legislation, abortions were already difficult to legally perform in Texas. According to an October 2021 article by the New York Times, abortions in the state fell by 50% the month after the legislature’s Heartbeat Act went into effect. In February, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear a case challenging the law, effectively deeming the new law constitutional. The bill, which passed in May 2021 and commenced Sept. 1 of that same year, gave citizens the right to enforce the law through civil lawsuits. Moving forward, law enforcement officials will likely be the ones implementing any new abortion laws, which will, again, take effect in 30 days.
Geographically, Fort Worth finds itself surrounded by states with similar trigger laws. Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana each have laws that have retroactively made abortion illegal. Kansas, which would otherwise be the closest state without a trigger law, is holding a referendum in August that will eliminate abortion protections via a constitutional amendment. This measure is likely to pass. New Mexico, on the other hand, is the only state that borders Texas where abortion is likely to remain legal. Clinics exist in the border town of Hobbs, as well as Roswell, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces.
