Demonstrators held protests in cities across Texas Sunday to oppose the abortion law which took effect September 1. The law bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected and allows individuals to sue doctors or others involved in providing an abortion after that point instead of the state enforcing the ban.
Protests were held Sunday in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Brownsville, El Paso and outside the Texas Capitol in Austin.
"I have a 19 year old daughter. If she doesn't have equal rights, I'm marching for them," one woman at the rally in Dallas said.
"I'm here to make sure abortions can stay safe and legal," another said.
Others said, regardless of the outcome in court, they hope the abortion law will lead to changes at the polls when Governor Greg Abbott faces reelection in 2022.
"I'm 55 years old, and I can't believe I'm still having to protest for women's rights in 2021," a woman at the protest in Dallas said. "It's ridiculous."
The Department of Justice sued Texas to try to block the law. At a hearing Friday, a lawyer for the federal government said Texas had "resorted to an unprecedented scheme of vigilante justice" by passing the law.
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A lawyer for the Texas attorney general's office cited CDC data showing "nearly 40% of abortions in Texas were performed at or before six weeks."
"That's a very significant number," said Will Thompson. "Especially when the United States comes to this court and alleges the Texas heartbeat law would be a near-complete ban on abortion in Texas."
The judge has not yet ruled on the case.
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