About the Texas Heartbeat Act

Well, as usual, I found myself embarrassed that I have believed news reports without doing my own research. 

Here is a link to the actual bill, so you can also read it yourself:

https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB8/id/2395961

Having read this law, here's my analysis:

This law does not criminalize abortion in any sense. Most news sources I read at least got this much right. At least one did not.

It specifically prevents using its provisions from becoming basis for suing a woman who receives or considers an abortion. It also specifically prevents use of the provisions by a rapist or abusive boyfriend/spouse, etc. Many news sources I read failed to see this at all. 

I even assumed it wouldn't have properly disallowed this kind of misuse of the law, so I guessed it wrong, too.

It specifically provides for exceptions in case of medical emergency. Multiple news sources missed this.

What this law requires is

1) that medical abortion providers or assistance groups (in other words, clinics, Planned Parenthood, etc.) be qualified and properly inform people of their qualifications;

2) that medical abortion providers perform proper medical examinations and explain the dangers and negative health effects specific to that person in getting an abortion;

3) and that medical abortion providers and assistant groups also inform those seeking abortions of the options to abortion, including the availability of financial support through government and other sources and the father's legal duty of support.

The sixth week is a minimum -- even the above three requirements are not required until the sixth week.

This bill is mostly about establishing minimum best practice. 

[JMR202106070407 -- edit]

Which, as a friend points out, does leave the problem of who certifies the certifiers, which is a variation of the who watches the watchers conundrum, and the conundrum can be exploited by bad-faith actors.

Exploiting law is a separate problem, and the conundrum is not unique. It essentially applies to all of law. Various philosophers, lawyers, and mathematicians have worked it out, and there is no solution other than for all members of the community to watch the watchers. I guess I need to explain that conundrum in a blog post some day.

Note to myself -- I think I noticed some possible ex-post-facto issues in the bill, which would be a particular vulnerability to exploit.

[JMR202106070407 -- end-edit]

As near as I can tell, that's all.