Texas Governor Quietly Signs Another Law Restricting Abortions

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is continuing his crusade against abortions, now through tightening restrictions on abortion-inducing drugs. 

The governor’s latest law, Senate Bill 4, bans anyone but physicians from providing abortion-inducing drugs to women seeking an abortion. It bars physicians — the only ones to now be able to provide the medication — from providing it to women who are more than seven weeks pregnant. 

Signing quietly with no public ceremony, the bill is yet another attempt at banning abortions in the state of Texas. It takes effect December 2. 

Nearly 40 percent of abortions in 2018 were medical abortions, rather than surgical abortions. This shows how many more abortions will be prevented with yet another law by the anti-abortion governor. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows a 10-week pregnancy limit for that medication. The state’s new law therefore decreases the current 10-week limit to a 7-week limit. 

The law also blocks any abortion medication from being delivered by the mail, in order to prevent abortion pills being sent from a different state with less aggressive restrictions. The governor seeks to eliminate what he’s called “mail order” abortions, as in, being able to receive medication through the mail.

Senate Bill 4 comes on the heels of Senate Bill 8, or SB8, which the governor signed into law with much fanfare back in May. SB8 bans surgical abortions after about the six week period, effectively making nearly all abortions illegal, as the majority of people do not know they are pregnant until after six weeks. 

The most recent law adds more barriers in people’s access to safe abortions. 

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