Three Years of Texas S.B. 8

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, marking the first time in history that the Court took away a fundamental liberty right.  

But almost a year before that, Texas passed a law banning abortion. And although Roe was still the law of the land—the Supreme Court refused to block the clearly unconstitutional law.

The law, S.B. 8—which bans abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy, before many know they’re pregnant—took effect September 1, 2021. It’s a particularly cruel law that incentivizes Texans, including anti-abortion activists, to turn in their fellow citizens—neighbors, family members and others—who helped their loved ones access abortion care.  

Today, although this “vigilante” six-week ban is still in effect in Texas, another state law bans abortion entirely, with draconian criminal penalties of up to life imprisonment for physicians. “Vigilante” laws similar to S.B. 8 have been enacted in other states, and currently 14 states prohibit abortion entirely.  

S.B. 8 was a terrifying preview of the post-Roe reality we live in today—as pregnant patients are being forced to travel hundreds of miles out of state for abortion care; remain pregnant and give birth against their will, even when their pregnancies have no chance of survival; or wait until they are near death before receiving the life-saving medical care they need.

Law Is Linked to Sharp Rise in Infant Deaths 

Texas’s “vigilante” law reaches beyond those who are pregnant needing abortion care. The year after S.B. 8 took effect, infant deaths rose sharply in Texas—and the rise was directly caused by the enactment of the law, according to a recent study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  

The study found that infant deaths in the state increased by 13% and deaths from fetal conditions increased by 23%—compared to a decrease of 3.1% nationwide. “Congenital anomalies—birth defects that can include fatal conditions of the heart, spine, and brain” were the leading cause of death, reports the study.  

S.B. 8 contains no exception for fatal fetal conditions, which are typically diagnosed later than six weeks into pregnancy. 

“It’s clear that Texas’s S.B. 8 abortion ban has had a far-reaching and devastating impact on pregnant people, infants, and families,” said Marc Hearron, Senior Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, who argued the Center’s challenge to the law at the Supreme Court. “And what’s worse is that even in the face of such evidence, anti-abortion extremists will stop at nothing until abortion is banned entirely, nationwide.”