Under Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court found that states could not create onerous requirements which interfered with a patient’s right to an abortion up to the point of viability of the fetus, which was around 24 weeks. However, Texas’ new law erodes that decision. On May 9, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Texas’ new abortion law commonly known as the fetal “heartbeat” bill, and on September 1, 2021, the Supreme Court refused to block Texas’ “heartbeat” bill. The new law bans abortions as soon as cardiac motion can be detected in the embryo, roughly six weeks into a pregnancy.

The “heartbeat” bill contradicts the purpose of standing and adversely impacts not only the patients but people working in the medical field, families and friends of the patients, people who support a person’s right to choose, and society as a whole. Congress cannot continue to idly sit by. Congress must codify the principles of Roe v. Wade to protect an individual’s right to health care.