On May 19, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill No. 8, banning abortions as early as six weeks â before most women know they are pregnant â while making no exceptions for victims of assault or incest. This law prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected and enables any citizen to sue anyone who drives a woman to a clinic, any abortion provider and those who pay for the procedure. Other states have passed similar bills and once signed, activists filed lawsuits against them. Courts have also blocked these laws, but the billâs enforcement mechanism requires private citizens to file lawsuits against violators, making it hard to overturn this law. The U.S. Supreme Court revealed that in fall 2021, they will determine if these laws are unconstitutional.Â