Abortion rights advocates not confident Democrats will act over Texas ban

Campaigners fear Joe Biden and his party are ‘unilaterally disarming themselves in a fight that they can’t afford to do so’, writes Eric Garcia

Abortion rights supporters gather to protest Texas SB 8 in front of Edinburg City Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, in Edinburg, Texas (AP)

Abortion rights advocates are not optimistic that Democrats will take legislative action to protect abortion after a law in Texas that would severely restrict access took effect.

Renee Bracey Sherman, the executive director of We Testify, which advocates for people who have had abortions, said that Democrats have abandoned people who have had abortions.

“The fact we have a president of the United States who claims that he was pro-choice, that would codify Roe and he has not said abortion yet in his presidency is an absolute disgrace,” she told The Independent.

Ms Sherman also criticised President Joe Biden for not mentioning the word abortion, though shortly after Ms Sherman spoke with The Independent, he briefly mentioned it in a statement.

“And, outrageously, it deputises 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,” the statement said.

The Texas law that was passed in May went into effect on Wednesday morning. The US Supreme Court decided against providing an emergency appeal of the law. Five justices, including the three that former president Donald Trump nominated, along with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas opposed doing so. Chief Justice Roberts joined the three liberals on the court in dissenting.

“They should be embarrassed that they fundraise off of these bans all of the time to win back the Senate and win back the House and win back the presidency,” Ms Sherman said. “And then when they get in office, they did nothing for us.”

The law would ban abortions once foetal cardiac activity is detected, which is usually six weeks into a pregnancy and before most people know they are pregnant. In addition, the law would allow anyone in the United States who “aids and abets” an abortion to be subject to lawsuits. Litigants who win their cases could be eligible for $10,000 and any additional legal fees.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki denounced the law and reminded reporters that Mr Biden supported codifying the protections in Roe vs Wade.

“That is a specific course of action that can be taken to help protect from these types of [laws] in the future,” she said in a press conference Wednesday.

On Thursday, Mr Biden said in a statement that he was directing the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department “to see what steps the Federal Government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe.”

But there are significant hurdles to doing so. Despite Democrats holding the House, the Senate and the presidency, the party only has a 50-seat majority in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris being a tie-breaker. This would mean Republicans can still filibuster legislation to codify protections for people seeking abortions. On top of that, some like Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona oppose repealing the filibuster.

“But codifying Roe v Wade isn’t going to happen with the current makeup of the Senate and it is certainly not going to happen without filibuster reform,” Jessica Mason Pieklo, executive editor of ReWire News, said. “And to make it even harder, none of that would even stand judicial review given the success that conservatives have had packing the courts.”

Sen Sinema wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post in June that she was worried that getting rid of the filibuster could mean in the future, Republicans would use it to clear a lower threshold to curb reproductive services.

“I say to those criticisms that Republicans have continued to operate in bad faith for well over 10 years,” Ms Pieklo told The Independent. “Being afraid that they will move the goalposts is not an excuse not to act. It’s almost like Democrats are unilaterally disarming themselves in a fight that they can’t afford to do so.”

Laura Chapin, a Democratic consultant who works with abortion rights groups in Colorado, said that Democrats do have legislation to protect the right to an abortion called the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Senate had a hearing on it earlier this year.

“I’m never going to give into predictions of what may or may not happen,” she said, adding that Colorado doesn’t have restrictions on abortion like Texas does. “It is up to those of us that in states that are protective of abortion rights to make sure that nothing happens here.”