Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General 

AUSTIN – (News Release) Attorney General Ken Paxton has fought off multiple challenges to Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8), which has saved approximately 17,000 newborn lives since it went into effect on September 1, 2021. Abortions fell by 60 percent in Texas the first month after SB8 took effect. Abortion providers asked both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite their attack on the law by sending the case to a lower court, but they refused to do so. Most recently, on February 24, the Texas Supreme Court heard argument from attorneys for the Office of the Attorney General regarding whether any state governmental entity is authorized to enforce SB8.  

Texas SB8 is a pro-life law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, when fetal cardiac activity can be detected. Also known as the “Heartbeat Bill,” the law protects the unborn from gruesome medical procedures that involve dismemberment in the mother’s womb. According to recent studies, before SB8 was enacted, 84 percent of women seeking abortions in Texas were over six weeks pregnant by the time they chose to terminate. 

“Simply by having SB8 enacted, thousands of lives have already been saved in Texas. Stopping abortion providers from conducting these barbaric practices is yet another win for our great state. I will continue to fight tirelessly for the rights of the unborn,” Attorney General Paxton said.