Abortion providers, and even manufacturers, will be liable for penalties over pills mailed into the state
Residents of Texas can now sue people who they suspect of making, distributing or mailing abortion pills in or out of the state, in a first-of-its-kind law that aims to dam the flood of abortion pills into states that ban the procedure.
Under the new law, which went into effect on Thursday, abortion providers could face penalties of at least $100,000 if they mail pills into Texas. Manufacturers of abortion pills are also eligible to be sued, although women who take abortion pills are not.
Anti-abortion activists are hoping that the law will escalate the war between states that protect abortion rights and those that do not, since it marks the first legislative challenge to “shield laws”. Enacted in a handful of blue states after the fall of Roe v Wade, shield laws aim to protect abortion providers from out-of-state prosecution, even if they are shipping pills across state borders. By the end of 2024, abortion providers in shield-law states like Massachusetts and New York were facilitating more than 12,000 abortions a month in states that ban the procedure, including in Texas, according to #WeCount, a research project by the Society of Family Planning.
Yup. It’s crowdfunding the prosecution, by allowing anyone to bring civil lawsuits.
It also keeps it out of the criminal courts, because Texas specifically doesn’t want one state’s shield laws to try protecting someone from another state’s criminal prosecution. If that happens, the case would go straight to the SCOTUS because they have original jurisdiction in state-vs-state cases. And conservatives specifically don’t want a ruling like this to go in their favor, because it would open the floodgates for liberal states to criminally prosecute conservatives whenever they do something.
For instance, imagine California being able to prosecute an oil company for causing asthma because emissions blow across state lines. Being able to prosecute a gun manufacturer whenever a school shooting happens with weapons that were purchased legally in other states. Being able to prosecute a car manufacturer whenever a crash happens with an out-of-state driver. Texas specifically doesn’t want liberal states to be able to do this, so they want to avoid setting any kind of precedent with the SCOTUS.