Texas GOP Suggests Death Penalty for Abortion

Facts

• The Texas GOP is considering a platform appearing to endorse the death penalty for abortion providers and patients through a law crystallizing the fetal personhood ideology.¹
• Texas delegates at the state's Republican Party convention on Saturday proposed to define abortion as homicide, not healthcare, exempting only non-elective abortions.²
• Plank 35 of the platform called for Texas Republicans to pass legislation that would grant 'equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization.'³
• In Texas, killing a child aged under 15 is deemed a capital offense punishable by death.⁴
• Previously, states like Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina have considered classifying abortion as homicide, though such bills were defeated.⁵
• This comes as, on Friday, the Texas Supreme Court rejected a medical challenge to the state's abortion ban brought by 20 women.⁶

Sources: ¹Huffington Post, ²Daily Mail, ³Common Dreams, ⁴Guardian, ⁵The New Republic and ⁶USA Today.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Verdict. Criminalizing women seeking a lifesaving medical procedure reflects a dangerous escalation in the anti-abortion movement. This is both hypocritical and cruel and ignores historical and religious principles of justice.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Dallas News. The killing of unborn children must not be allowed, and — as decided by the overturning of Roe — it's up to the states to regulate abortions. More US states must follow Alabama's near-total abortion ban and impose severe penalties on doctors who perform the procedure.

Predictions