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Texas trigger law goes into effect months after Roe v. Wade overturned
In Texas, anyone who helps perform an abortion could now face felony charges including life in prison. FOX 26’s Natalie Hee has more.
HOUSTON - Doctors in Texas who perform an abortion could face criminal and civil charges, including life in prison, a $100,000 fine, and potentially lose their medical license. A pregnant patient who gets an abortion won’t be penalized under the law. However, anyone who helps by ‘aiding and abetting' the abortion could be arrested.
MORE: Texans who perform abortions now face up to life in prison, $100,000 fine
Abortions to save a mother’s life is allowed, but the exemption doesn’t apply to cases of rape or incest.
For the last 20 years, Jacquelyn Aluotto has spent her life advocating for victims of human and sex trafficking as the President of 'No Trafficking Zone.'
"We know that Texas is a hub for sex trafficking," Aluotto said. "We also understand that 50% of rape survivors aren’t coming forward. So who would’ve thought that with this trigger law, they would’ve implemented things to protect survivors and not perpetrators."
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Making the Case: Who is at risk of seeing real jail time for violating Texas’ trigger law?
News Edge Legal Analyst Charles ‘Big Angry’ Adams helps break down the legal ramifications after the state’s new law could result in felony charges including life in prison for anyone who performs an abortion.
Aluotto worries the laws are sending the wrong message.
"It sends a really scary message that women aren’t valued," Aluotto said. "It sends a message that men can do whatever they want, not just to women, but to children. If you go to the Harris County juvenile detention, there are teenage girls in there who are pregnant, who are trafficking victims, and yet, they will have to have their child. It’s very hard to wrap your head around that."
"Imagine being held down and forced and raped, and then being a child and then being pregnant, and then being forced to have that child," she continued.
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Aluotto added she’ll keep fighting for victim’s rights and hope that more protections are added.
Texas is one of three states whose trigger laws went into effect Thursday. The other two were Idaho and Tennessee.