Gov. Abbott Signs Law To Outlaw Abortion If Roe V. Wade Topples

DALLAS, TX —While much of America is settling back to Netflix and chill tonight, Texans are getting a second dose of "Father Knows Best" and "Leave It to Beaver."

Yes, on the day before President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refilled the pen he used to ban critical race theory and make guns more accessible to now certify that if the Supreme Court rejects Roe V. Wade, the Lone Star State would be first in line to criminalize a woman's right to choose.

Abbott signed into law Wednesday a bill that outlaws pregnancy termination in Texas if and when the SCOTUS overturns the landmark 1973 decision.

The Texas legislation, known as House Bill 1280, makes performing or trying to perform an abortion a second-degree felony. The law would take effect 30 days from a ruling by the Supreme Court.

As the bill was written, should the fetus die, attendant penalties could be upgraded to a first-degree felony, which carries the potential for a life sentence. Violators who provide abortions risk fines that start at $100,000 as well as having their licenses revoked.

How big a problem is abortion right now? Well, according to the Guttmacher Institute's study, the rate is actually on decline — not because of restrictions but because of an overall decline in pregnancy.

It's a bit trickier to track in Texas, because the state already has some of the most restrictive laws in the country, which prompts many women to end their pregnancies across state lines. But the same institute said its data shows a 3 percent decline in pregnancy termination between 2014 and 2017.

So, this new law seems not only Draconian but unnecessary. And if all this posturing is not about protecting the unborn, could it possibly be about appeasing Abbott's most conservative constituents?

Of course. Abbott and his GOP stalwarts in the Texas Legislature are determined to turn back the clock on the culture wars that ushered in Planned Parenthood, transgender rights and any reckoning with Black culture wrought by last year's nationwide riots.

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Will it work? Will the constant threat of Texas "turning blue" ever come to pass? Or will conservative Protestant white heteronormative values become so entrenched in law that expunging them will take generations of effort?

Abbott is betting that, between the proposed voter restrictions that could be made law in the expected coming special session and his veering hard right to please his conservative base, he has found Texas' political sweet spot.

So far, the Democrats who walked out at the end of the legislative session two weeks to avoid that bill's passage have only prolonged the inevitable. That sets up yet another thrilling episode in the series Republicans believe is more popular than "Dallas" ever was, despite the shooting of J.R.

Let's call it "Texas Heads Back to the Future." Who wants popcorn?

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