President Joe Biden said Texas’ new abortion law would violate constitutional rights established under Roe v Wade.
The president said the law, which went into effect early Wednesday morning, would restrict health care access for low-income communities and communities of color.
“And, outrageously, it deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who they believe has helped another person get an abortion, which might even include family members, health care workers, front desk staff at a health care clinic, or strangers with no connection to the individual,” Mr Biden said in a statement.
Texas’s legislature passed the law which Gov Greg Abbott signed in May. The US Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, had until midnight on Tuesday to take action on the legislation but chose not to do so.
The law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected, which is typically six weeks of pregnancy, which is before many parents know they are pregnant. The law offers medical exceptions but not ones for rape and incest.
The law also allows for private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who “aids and abets” someone to receive an abortion. If these private citizens succeed, they are entitled to $10,000 in addition to legal costs, even if they don’t live in Texas.
“My administration is deeply committed to the constitutional right established in Roe v. Wade nearly five decades ago and will protect and defend that right,” Mr Biden said in a statement.
