The beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade?

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2021

⏱️ ? minutes

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Summary

Life in Texas under the nation’s most restrictive abortion law. Plus, the unusual legal strategy that allowed the law to go into effect and how it could be a blueprint for other states to circumvent Roe v. Wade.

The nation’s most restrictive abortion law is now in effect in Texas after the Supreme Court refused to block it, banning abortions after six weeks. Hours before S.B. 8 went into effect, abortion clinics were packed — and now that abortion providers can be sued, they’re recommending people go across state lines to get the procedure if they’re more than six weeks pregnant. Caroline Kitchener traveled to Texas to report on what it's like for patients and clinics.

This law is a huge win for antiabortion activists throughout the country, and it provides a blueprint for other states to use the same legal strategy. Ann E. Marimow reports on what this could mean for the future of Roe v. Wade.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Last week at a women's clinic in Houston, phones were ringing off the hook.
0:11.9	Women were calling desperate to get an appointment for an abortion.
0:23.9	The people who work at this clinic had to deliver the bad news over and over again, that
0:28.9	there were only a few hours left before a new law kicked in.
0:32.6	And at this clinic, there were no appointments left.
0:50.2	From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports.
0:53.8	I'm Martin Powers.
0:55.9	It's Tuesday, September 7.
0:58.8	Last week, the stakes got even higher in the battle over abortion rights in the US.
1:03.8	A new law in Texas went into effect that bans people from getting abortions after six
1:08.3	weeks.
1:09.7	And by a narrow majority, the Supreme Court ruled to let this law stand.
1:15.2	This decision opens the door for other states trying to limit abortion rights.
1:19.8	And in Texas, the consequences are already playing out on the ground, and abortion clinics
1:24.3	like that one in Houston.
1:26.2	They received 400 calls that day.
1:30.4	On a regular Monday, they might get 100, and they didn't have any appointments to get
1:35.0	out.
1:36.0	Reporter Caroline Kitchener went to Texas to talk to the people whose lives are being
1:40.0	affected by Senate Bill 8.
1:42.3	So Senate Bill 8 bans abortion after six weeks' gestation, and that's before the vast
1:48.4	majority of people know that they're pregnant.
	...

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