The “trigger ban” on abortion in Texas kicked into action Thursday, reactivating an anti-abortion law passed in 1925, when Texas had fewer than 5 million people, most of them white.
The majority of voters who today support women’s access to abortion in some form were reminded once again of the consequences of gerrymandering that has led to the state’s Republican elected leaders bearing little resemblance to the nearly 30 million people they purportedly represent.
The result: Women and even underage girls who are impregnated by a rapist, be it a stranger or a relative, will now have to live with the consequences or be prosecuted as felons. Children born by women unready or unable to adequately parent them will add to the state’s woes, while irresponsible men are not held accountable. Even pregnant women with life-threatening conditions might find that hospitals and physicians fear the consequences of providing them with essential medical services.
Listen to or read this July 26 story by a National Public Radio reporter about the plight of Elizabeth and James Weller in Houston after her 18-week pregnancy became a medical nightmare.
How did we come to this juncture where desperate women must leave the state or even the country to get an abortion, while medical and public health professionals in Texas feel targeted by conservative politicians who lack any real understanding of the medical complexities at play?
The answer, I believe, lies in a 5-4 ruling by a divided Supreme Court in 2019 in which Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that political gerrymandering was outside the scope of federal judicial oversight. For me, the ruling undermined participatory democracy. It allowed Republicans in Texas to drop all pretense of governing from the center or sharing power in an increasingly diverse state.
Here in Texas, the difference between the population’s racial, ethnic and gender profile and that of the Texas Legislature has never been more pronounced, according to demographers.
With effective control over how political lines are drawn, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican majorities that control the Texas House and Senate don’t pretend to represent all Texans. Political rhetoric from the state’s top elected leaders routinely vilifies Democrats.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who kicked off a campaign bus tour of Texas at the Alamo last week, said in a press release, “Voters are engaged and excited about this 2022 election. While Democrats whine and carp, perpetuating the lie that it’s difficult to vote in Texas, I predict another record turnout.”
What Patrick did not mention is that he and other Republican legislators passed one of the most restrictive laws in the nation last September limiting how and when voters can cast their ballots, taking particular aim at big city election administrators who innovated during the pandemic to expand safe voting choices for citizens.
Texans of color accounted for 95% of the robust 16.1% population growth from the 2010 to 2020 U.S. census. The non-Hispanic white population fell from 45% in 2010 to 39.8% in 2020, while the Hispanic population grew to virtual parity at 39.3%.
Gerrymandered districts keep conservative white men in office and allow conservative rural and suburban voters to outflank more liberal and diverse urban voters who account for most of the state’s population growth. That helps explain why a majority of citizens who support some form of abortion were ignored by the state’s mostly Republican white male elected representatives from passing one of the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion bills.
The new law offers a $10,000 bounty to private citizens who successfully track down vulnerable women and medical professionals engaged in an abortion procedure. It’s widely seen as a political stunt since access to abortion in the state has been virtually eliminated. Medical professionals face felony prosecution and the loss of their licenses and livelihoods if they are seen violating the law.
Abbott enthusiastically signed the bill into law last September, long before a divided U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
How will women vote in November? Abbott’s Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, is making the Texan abortion ban the centerpiece of his current statewide tour. Polls show that the Abbott-O’Rourke race and Patrick’s race against Democratic challenger Mike Collier have tightened. Abbott still leads O’Rourke by seven points, while another poll shows only five percentage points separate Patrick and Collier.
Will Texas women angered over their loss of reproductive rights surprise pollsters and the incumbents and prove to be decisive in November? The campaigns will shift into high gear after the Labor Day holiday. That leaves two months before Texans — all Texans — learn the answer.
