Death penalty considered for women who have abortions in Texas

Texas lawmakers have considered introducing the death penalty for women who have abortions.

Legislators debated the details of the proposed abortion ban in the US state last night, following pressure from pro-life campaigners who believe that they will face "God's wrath" if they do not change the law. The bill would make procuring an abortion at any stage a homicide, which means that women could face the death penalty for terminating a pregnancy. The Washington Post reports although that the bill will face steep challenges, its consideration comes as part of a larger push across the US to overturn Roe v. Wade - the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion across America in 1973. Introduced by Republican State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, the Texas bill aims to make women “more personally responsible” and guarantee  “equal protection” for life inside and “outside the womb.” Tuesday's hearing heard from hundreds of pro-life campaigners who fear the wrath of God should abortion access continue in the state of Texas. Many quoted the bible and asked lawmakers and Texas citizens to "repent with us" during the meeting. Democratic State Rep. Victoria Neave condemned the law and questioned the logic behind introducing the death penalty for abortion. She said:

“I’m trying to reconcile in my head the arguments that I heard tonight about how essentially one is okay with subjecting a woman to the death penalty for the exact... to do to her the exact same thing that one is alleging she is doing to a child."

Pro-life, indeed. This comes after Alabama proposed a law that would make performing or helping a person to get an abortion punishable by up to 99 years in prison. CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast, Staci Fox, called the law a "death sentence for women."

"These bans are blatantly unconstitutional and lawmakers know it – they just don’t care," she said. "Alabamians are just pawns in this political game to challenge access to safe, legal abortion nationally."

Other states including Georgia and South Carolina are also considering similar criminalisation of abortion. The likes of Kentucky and Mississippi have already approved the bans of terminations after a foetal heartbeat is present. This is usually detectable at approximately six weeks gestation, before many women even discover they are pregnant.