1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i The Texas Heartbeat Act (S.B. 8), Whole Womans Health v. Jackson, and United States v. Texas: Frequently Asked Questions October 25, 2021 The Texas Heartbeat Act (S.B. 8) is a state law that prohibits phy
2、sicians from performing or inducing an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Since S.B. 8 took effect on September 1, 2021, Texas abortion providers have generally stopped performing the procedure after an embryos gestational age is six weeks from the first day of a patients last menstrual pe
3、riod (LMP), a point when cardiac activity is often detectable. With abortions generally unavailable beginning six weeks from the LMP, Texas women have reportedly been travelling to neighboring states to obtain the procedure. On November 1, 2021, following a rare grant of a writ of certiorari before
4、judgment, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in two cases involving S.B. 8. Both cases address how novel features of S.B. 8 might affect the availability of judicial review. In Whole Womans Health v. Jackson, the Court is to evaluate whether private plaintiffs (here, abortion provi
