DJAN Strongly Opposes Dangerous and Authoritarian Texas Law

DJAN's leaders, members, and network of activists are concerned about, appalled by, and in strong opposition to the Texas law against reproductive freedom, known as Senate Bill 8.

This dangerous law is a direct attack on women, an endangerment of their lives and those who support them, and a war against the right of women to have full knowledge and full availability of all options connected to their health care, especially their reproductive health care.

While its proponents say that the bill’s target is not women themselves but those who profit on abortion, make no mistake – this bill is designed to harm people who are vulnerable and make it nearly impossible to reach well informed and private medical decisions without herculean efforts.

The Texas bill assaults not only women’s reproductive rights, but their right to privacy, the civil rights of everyone and the federal government’s ability to protect those rights in one fell swoop.

There has been a spate of so called “heartbeat bills” which ban abortion after cardiac activity, around 6 weeks, a time many women may not even know they are pregnant. These have blatantly placed an “undue burden” on women, but the Texas bill takes it a set further into truly despicable territory.

What separates this law is that it is not in the hands of the state but in private citizens to sue anyone performing or aiding, knowingly or unknowingly, an abortion after cardiac activity, with no exception for rape or incest.

DJAN is alarmed by the consequences of introducing what is basically vigilantism into such a sensitive issue. By completely criminalizing a form of reproductive health care, the Texas government has created an atmosphere of fear, division, and suspicion, which encourages people to make reckless and unproven charges against other people (with no penalty for false charges) and, without any concern whatsoever, puts the lives of many women and girls at great risk.

As people of faith, we cannot allow neighbor to be pitted against neighbor. This law is danger, not only to women, but to our entire society which is based on the ability to protect civil rights of everyone. Now we may see more bills like this, which use private citizens as weapons to persecute others, particularly those who most need compassion, support and justice. We cannot allow our communities to be torn apart by authoritarian policies. To that end, DJAN stands with women, their healthcare providers, and support networks in Texas; and will sound the alarm throughout our network’s reach.