cannot feel pain, pro-lifers in Texas still incriminate women for being irresponsible or financially incapable of raising a child. By putting this immense pressure and manipulating the women of Texas to avoid abortions, pro-lifers are creating a stigma around abortion that shames women into neglecting their wellbeing by not getting an abortion when necessary. The societal pressures that women in Texas face has proven to put them further in danger because it prompts them to undergo unsafe procedures for fear of backlash from the Texan pro-life community. Some abortion care providers even emphasize that “they no longer feel as if they are able to continue safely providing this care in Texas” (Gerson). This could put women in need of an abortion in serious danger because the route of pursing an unsafe abortion may not be successful or there could be unforeseen side effects that wouldn’t have occurred had a safe abortion been performed. Another alternative that women may turn to is traveling out of state to get an abortion in a state where it is legal. In this case, there are also drawbacks since not everyone has the financial means to travel across state lines. Disproportionately affected women, such as those with financial struggles, therefore, will be forced to carry the pregnancy to term or perform the procedure unsafely. Both equally dangerous options will have damaging effects on women which could have been otherwise avoided by not enacting the Texas Heartbeat Act. Women in Texas also fear the enforcement of the new legislation because it gives people more of a reason to antagonize women while lauding those who emphasize the antagonism. A new policy in the Texas Heartbeat Act allows citizens of Texas to report and sue anyone who aids a women in getting an abortion for up to 10,000 dollars plus legal fees. PAGE 5 VOL. 1, NO. 1 ZEITGEIST This policy not only, as some news outlets put it, “turns citizens into bounty hunters” (Picchi), but also empowers and encourages those who have violated women to do more harm to them. For instance, if a woman seeks help to get an abortion as a victim of rape or incest, her offender is legally allowed to report her and recieve a payout for sexual assault. While Texas Governor Greg Abbott claims that Texas will nonetheless strive to “eliminate all rapists from the streets” by “aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them,” Amy Jones, the CEO of the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center, argues that “if it were that easy, rape would no longer exist” (McCammon). Instead of eradicating rape, this law incentivizes perpetrators to further harm the women of Texas. Texas government officials will more likely smudge the boundaries of what is or is not considered rape in order to validate the policies of the Texas Heartbeat Act. The law then becomes a way for offenders to once again target victims for their own benefit, further abusing the women of Texas. Since the enactment of the Texas Heartbeat Act on September 1st, 2021, there has been an outstanding uproar from individuals and communities with varied viewpoints. While the law may seem like a tremendous victory for the pro-life Texan community, it is vitally important to recognize that the manipulative and harmful nature of the law can and will serve to hurt and antagonize the women of Texas in the future. Texas Governor Greg Abbott Signs the Heartbeat Bill Into state law.
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