Abortion ban for raped victims
The Texas governor promised a rape-free state — he broke his word
Wanted to “eliminate all rapists from the Texas streets”: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
© Brandon Bell / Getty Images / AFP
Texas passed a strict abortion ban a year ago. Gov. Greg Abbott rejected exceptions for rape victims, saying he would eliminate rape in his state. But he hasn’t.
The abortion ruling by the US Supreme Court in June 2021 has drastically tightened abortion laws in numerous conservative-governed states. In Texas, too, abortions have been banned since September 1, 2021, as soon as heart activity has been detected in the fetus – i.e. after about the sixth week, when women often do not even know that they are pregnant. Violators of the law or even assisting in a prohibited abortion face a fine of at least $10,000.
Abortion banned in Texas even for rape
The new regulation with the name sees exceptions Senate Bill 8 only in medically documented medical emergencies, i.e. when the life of the pregnant woman is threatened. Victims of rape or incest, on the other hand, have to carry their children to term. Texas Governor Greg Abbott brushed aside criticism of this a year ago with an announcement that his state would prevent rapes in the future.
“Why is a rape or incest victim forced to carry the child?” Abbot was asked by a reporter at the time.
His response: “It’s not required at all because the law allows at least six weeks for a person to have an abortion. But let’s get this straight: rape is a crime and Texas will work tirelessly to protect all rapists off the Texas streets by aggressively cracking down on them, arresting them, prosecuting them, and getting them off the streets.The ultimate goal of the state of Texas is to eliminate rape so that no woman—no person—is a victim of rape .”
Abbott’s promise was criticized by many observers as absurd and unworldly, and in fact he could not believe it: “The numbers have remained consistently high,” says Lindsey LeBlanc, executive director of the Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC) in the city of Bryan the Associated Press (AP) news agency the influx of raped women. Despite hiring two additional counselors in the past six months, there is still a waiting list for victims. “We’re struggling to keep up with demand.”
The figures from a telephone hotline for victims of sexual violence in Houston paint the same picture: by August of this year, the employees there had taken almost 4,800 calls – and are therefore well on the way to exceeding the previous year’s volume of 4,843.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, more than 14,000 rape offenses have been reported since Senate Bill 8 went into effect. This is slightly lower than last year, consistent with the decline in other violent crimes in the state.
Response centers in Texas are reporting that their counselors have resumed taking more rape victims to hospital checkups since pandemic restrictions lifted their access, according to the AP. And the Fort Worth Women’s Center said it made more than 650 visits last year to counsel victims undergoing screening, up from about 340 a year earlier.
Abbott refers to general crime fighting
“We would all like to eliminate rape in Texas and around the world,” LeBlanc told Rolling Stone last December. “Unfortunately, it’s not enough to just say, ‘We’re going to get rid of them,’ and that’s what happens.” According to the SARC boss, the staff in the counseling center would prefer to make themselves superfluous through their own work. “Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. We can’t even take care of all the survivors who come to us.”
When asked about what Abbott has done about rape over the past year, spokeswoman Renae Eze told the Associated Press: “To prevent such heinous crimes before they happen and to prosecute all criminals to the fullest extent of the law, has Gov. Abbott aggressively campaigned against cutting police funding and spearheaded bail law reform to prevent the release of dangerous criminals.” This statement is almost verbatim the statement Eze made to Rolling Stone back in December.
“From the smallest Texas town to the sprawling metropolis of the state, the picture is the same: rapes are reported at similar rates and rapists evade prosecution at about the same rate,” the magazine wrote at the time, when the abortion ban was more than three years old months in force. “The difference is that since September, rape victims in Texas have been largely deprived of the ability to terminate a pregnancy that may have occurred as a result of the attack.”
Sources: Senate Bill 8, Associated Press, “Rolling Stone”, “Texas Tribune”, “Business Insiders”