Bill Text: TX HB3641 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to declaring void certain federal court decisions related to abortion and prohibiting cooperation with the enforcement of those decisions; creating a private cause of action; creating a criminal offense.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-22 - Referred to State Affairs [HB3641 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB3641-Introduced.html

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87R12078 SCL-F
By: Slaton H.B. No. 3641

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to declaring void certain federal court decisions related
to abortion and prohibiting cooperation with the enforcement of
those decisions; creating a private cause of action; creating a
criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "Roe v.
Wade Is Unconstitutional Act."
SECTION 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to exercise
the sovereign authority of this state, consistent with the
Constitution of the United States, to declare and treat as void the
opinions and judgments of the Supreme Court of the United States in
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and its judicial progeny that
claim to prohibit states from providing the equal protection of the
laws to people who have not yet been born.
SECTION 3. INTENT. The Legislature intends to act pursuant
to the following provisions, among others, of the Texas
Constitution:
(1) "Texas is a free and independent State, subject
only to the Constitution of the United States, and the maintenance
of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon
the preservation of the right of local self-government, unimpaired
to all the States" as provided under Section 1, Article I, Texas
Constitution;
(2) "All political power is inherent in the people,
and all free governments are founded on their authority, and
instituted for their benefit" as provided under Section 2, Article
I, Texas Constitution; and
(3) "No citizen of this State shall be deprived of
life, liberty, property, privileges or immunities, or in any manner
disfranchised, except by the due course of the law of the land" as
provided under Section 19, Article I, Texas Constitution.
SECTION 4. STATE AUTHORITY REGARDING ABORTION. Title 1,
Government Code, is amended by adding Chapter 2 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 2. STATE AUTHORITY
SUBCHAPTER A. AUTHORITY REGARDING ABORTION
Sec. 2.001. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds
the following:
(1) "The [United States] Constitution does not
constrain the States' ability to regulate or even prohibit
abortion" under June Med. Servs. L.L.C. v. Russo, 140 S. Ct. 2103,
2149 (2020) (Thomas, J., dissenting);
(2) Section 2, Article VI, United States Constitution,
provides that "[The United States Constitution], and the Laws of
the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof. . .
shall be the supreme Law of the Land";
(3) the Tenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution affirms that "The powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people";
(4) legislators, as elected officials, have solemnly
sworn to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of
the United States and of this State, so help us God;
(5) though prudence dictates that states should not
declare actions of the federal judiciary void for light or
indefinite causes, the legislature does not concede that the
federal judiciary is infallible nor its powers unlimited;
(6) nothing in the United States Constitution provides
for a right to abortion of preborn human beings;
(7) the concept of the federal judiciary compelling
states to allow the practice of prenatal homicide runs completely
contrary to the text and principles of the United States
Constitution;
(8) the legislature denies that the power to authorize
the genocide of more than 62 million preborn human beings over the
last 48 years and counting is within the legitimate powers of the
federal judiciary; and
(9) actions of the federal judiciary purporting to
provide a right to abortion are not made in pursuance of the United
States Constitution and consequently are not the supreme law of the
land.
Sec. 2.002. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "Roe v. Wade"
means the opinions and judgments of the United States Supreme Court
in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and its judicial progeny, past
and future, including Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833
(1992), and June Med. Servs. L.L.C. v. Russo, 140 S. Ct. 2103
(2020).
Sec. 2.003. ROE V. WADE VOID. Texas exercises its authority
through this chapter, consistent with the United States
Constitution, to declare and treat as void the opinions and
judgments of the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade that
claim to prohibit states from providing the equal protection of the
laws to people who have not yet been born.
Sec. 2.004. ENFORCING ABORTION RESTRICTIONS AND
PROHIBITIONS. This state and all political subdivisions of this
state shall enforce prohibitions and other restrictions of abortion
without regard to Roe v. Wade.
Sec. 2.005. RESTRICTION ON USE OF STATE AND LOCAL
RESOURCES. This state and all political subdivisions of this state
are prohibited from using any personnel or financial resources to
enforce, administer, or cooperate with Roe v. Wade to prevent this
state or its political subdivisions from protecting the lives of
people who have not yet been born.
Sec. 2.006. PROHIBITING COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE ROE V. WADE. (a) No government agency or
official of this state or its political subdivisions, including any
sheriff, deputy sheriff, or other law enforcement officer, shall
give force or effect to any court order that conflicts with this
subchapter.
(b) Cooperative agreements with federal agencies
notwithstanding, no law enforcement agency or law enforcement
officer in this state shall assist or cooperate in any way with the
arrest or imprisonment of any government official or individual who
complies with this section and refuses to comply with any contrary
court order. Such contrary orders shall include any order to levy on
property, seize bank accounts, arrest the person, or serve process
for the purpose of causing any person to violate this section, or
for the purpose of punishing any person for the failure to comply
with an order contrary to this section.
(c) A federal officer or agent who arrests any state or
local government official for compliance with this section shall be
subject to arrest by state or local law enforcement.
Sec. 2.007. ATTORNEY GENERAL. The attorney general shall,
on a request of an employee or former employee of this state or a
political subdivision of this state, provide for the defense of any
action brought against the employee or former employee for an act or
omission in the scope of employment relating to this subchapter.
Sec. 2.008. CRIMINAL OFFENSE; CIVIL LIABILITY. (a) A
person who violates Section 2.005 or 2.006 commits an offense. An
offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
(b) A person who commits a violation described in Subsection
(a) while acting in the person's official capacity is subject to
termination from employment to the extent allowable under state law
and, if the person is a public servant at the time of conviction,
shall forfeit the person's position or office.
(c) Any aggrieved party may bring a private cause of action
against a person who commits a violation described in Subsection
(a).
SECTION 5. APPEARANCE NOT REQUIRED. This state and its
political subdivisions, and agents of this state and its political
subdivisions, are not required to enter an appearance, special or
otherwise, in any federal suit challenging this Act.
SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members
elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas
Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.