Bill Text: TX SB1671 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
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 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-24 - Referred to State Affairs [SB1671 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB1671-Introduced.html
87R12078 SCL-F | ||
By: Hall | S.B. No. 1671 |
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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. |