Roe v. Wade Overturning And Its Two-Year Impact

This week, two years ago, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court. The impact of that decision has been felt all over the nation. Life is now being protected in many states across the country, including Texas. The Texas Tribune reported that there were only 40 abortions in Texas in 2023 as opposed to 50,000 in 2021. Life is winning across the nation but there are some that oppose it in high positions of power.

Roe v. Wade was the case that determined if abortion and the privacy issues involved should be handled at the state level or federally. With the decision of Roe in effect, there was not much that states could do to deter abortion but with its reversal, the states were able to be much more effective. In September of 2021, Texas had the Heartbeat Act and the trigger law was created. The trigger law bans abortions outright in the state of Texas. The trigger law went into effect almost immediately after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Joe Biden, with the general election in November approaching quickly, has made multiple statements on social media about his next attempts to bring abortion back to every state. He claims that President Donald Trump is the one man responsible for its overturning because of his nominations for the Supreme Court. Biden is also trying to gain support by saying in the “next four years” he will reverse the decision on Roe v. Wade that was made in 2022.

Most states in the US have put up some sort of abortion laws restricting or even completely eliminating access to them. Texas is one of the states that has some of the most restrictive abortion laws thanks to our state legislature. Texas has and needs to continue to take the lead on the abortion debate and stay in control of the conversation around the issue. 

Abortion has been essentially completely eliminated in 14 states including Texas and a handful of other states with severe restrictions. One of the major issues facing Texas after banning abortions is people traveling out of state to have them performed. There have been organizations that will fund travel for people out of Texas to have an abortion with some major companies as their donors. As a response to this cities like Lubbock have put up restrictions for travel through their city for the purpose of getting an abortion. The only problem with this is how hard it is to enforce. For this rule to be effective we must have legislation at the state level. In addition to traveling out of state, there have been some loopholes found in receiving abortion pills in Texas, though it is technically illegal to do so in the state. With those few issues addressed, innocent lives in Texas will be better protected.

The overall impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade has been huge in Texas. Our abortion numbers have plummeted over the last two years. We’re counting on the legislature to continue to defend life and cover all of the loopholes when they are brought to light. This November at the general election abortion will be one of the largest indicators of someone's vote now that Biden’s plans to reverse the 2022 decision have been brought to light. Texans don’t want abortions in this state because we believe in protecting innocent life and we are ecstatic to see the impact it has had thus far.