Texas Lawmaker Introduces "Abolition of Abortion" Act

Texas House of Representatives Chamber (Picryl).

Texas GOP State Representative Bryan Slaton filed a bill on March 9 that could, in some cases, make abortion punishable by death. HB 3326, named the “Abolition of Abortion through Equal Protection for All Unborn Children Act,” would equate abortion to homicide and would place criminal responsibility on medical professionals who perform or fail to prevent the performance of an abortion. Slaton announced the filing of the bill on his Twitter account, where he described abortion as a “discriminatory practice” of terminating the life of innocent children.” 

Slaton’s bill would amend the Texas Family Code to entitle a human child “from the moment of fertilization on fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum” the same rights afforded to “any other human child.”

Texas is one of 28 capital punishment states and has led the country in executions since 1976 when the Supreme Court decided in the landmark case Gregg v. Georgia to uphold the legality of the death penalty. The Texas Penal Code considers a number of types of criminal homicide as capital murder, including murdering an “individual under 10 years of age.” 

The only “justified” case of abortion according to the bill is when the procedure is performed out of necessity to preserve the life of the mother “when a reasonable alternative to save the lives of both the mother and the unborn child is unavailable” in removing an ectopic pregnancy. 

In the past month, similarly restrictive abortion bans in Arkansas and South Carolina have reached the governors’ desks, though pro-choice advocacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood acted swiftly to challenge these newly-signed laws in court. Shannon Najmabadi of the Texas Tribune notes that other anti-abortion bills filed in the Lone Star State have failed to gain traction in the legislature.

Pro-choice advocates are especially furious about the bill due to its timing. Slaton filed his bill during National Women’s History Month. In 1987, the United States Congress government passed an act designating March of every year as a celebration of the cultural, political, and scientific achievements of U.S. women throughout history. 

As numerous anti-abortion bills gain legislative support across the country, like the 2019 Alabama Human Life Protection Act, Texas HB 3326 represents a rapidly growing trend to restrict women’s abortion access in the United States. As of right now, many of these statutes have been struck down due to Roe v. Wade-related court orders.

However, with the appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October of 2020, anti-abortion lawmakers now look to the conservative majority in the Supreme Court as an opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade. Despite this renewed vigilance to criminalize abortion in the past few years, particularly from the start of the Trump Administration, President Joe Biden has committed to protecting abortion access, signaling hope for pro-choice organizations and activists.