Texas passes Heartbeat Bill banning abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy

US State of Texas, on May 20, passed the controversial ‘Heartbeat Bill’, banning abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. On Wednesday, the state’s Republican governor Greg Abbott signed the bill which bans abortion once the fetal heartbeat is detected, often before the woman knows she is pregnant. The law, which is also implacable in the cases of rape or incest has now sparked unrests in America’s second-largest state.

Abbott signs the bill

Late on Wednesday, Texas’ Governor Greg Abbott put his signatures on the ‘Senate bill 8’ turning it into a full-fledged law. He advocated the law saying that God had endowed the right to life upon all humans and yet millions of children lose it due to abortions. The law is scheduled to take effect on September 1.

“Our creator endowed us with the right to life, and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion. In Texas, we work to save those lives, and that's exactly what the Texas legislature did this session," he said.

Meanwhile, Pro-choice activists have slammed the bill vowing to fight it. "This bill essentially opens the floodgates to allow anyone who is hostile to abortion to sue doctors and clinics, consuming their resources and forcing them to shut down. We will pursue all legal options to prevent this law from taking effect," said Nancy Northup, president and chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights n a statement. Meanwhile, the Centre for American Progress Action called it, "An absolutely terrifying attack on reproductive rights".

On the contrary, Argentinian parliament recently voted in favour of a bill that would legalize abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy. As opposed to America, abortions are completely prohibited in the majority of Latin American nations including El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic but are allowed under certain specific circumstances in others. In Argentina, a woman could about her child only in case of rape or when her own health is jeopardised. In other countries including Mexico Cuba and Guyana, a woman can “request” an abortion from health authorities under certain conditions.

Image: AP