Texas passed an abortion bill that banned the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.
While not the first state to try shortening the time frame below the viability standard of 24 weeks, the method Texas chose for enforcing the law is unique — allowing private citizens to sue anyone who performs, aids or abets the procedure.
Although Texas is facing a federal lawsuit over SB8, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the statute to stand while the lawsuit works it way through the lower courts.
Without waiting to see the outcome of the federal lawsuit or the ruling the Supreme Court will hand down in a Mississippi abortion case, Missouri state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold) pre-filed a bill modeled on the Texas statute.
Two legal scholars explain the impact SB8 could have on women's reproductive rights, analyze the strategies to restrict access to prescription abortifacients and the likelihood of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
- Yvette Lindgren, professor of law, University of Missouri - Kansas City
- David Achtenberg, Law Foundation Scholar and professor of law, University of Missouri - Kansas City
