Texas SB8 takes effect banning abortion at six weeks and allowing any private citizen nationwide to sue anyone who helps a patient access care

Texas Senate Bill 8, the Texas Heartbeat Act, took effect on September 1, 2021, banning abortion after detection of fetal cardiac activity at approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The law's unprecedented enforcement mechanism deputized any private citizen in the country — regardless of connection to the abortion — to sue any person who aids or abets an abortion after six weeks, for a minimum bounty of $10,000 per successful lawsuit. The structure was designed to evade pre-enforcement judicial review by placing enforcement in private citizens rather than state officials. The Supreme Court declined to block the law in September 2021 (5-4). Texas abortion providers reported an immediate 50% drop in procedures after September 1.