Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita asked the United States Supreme Court to uphold a Texas anti-abortion law, according to an Office of the Indiana Attorney General news release.
“The federal government must respect the boundaries of states’ sovereign authority,” Rokita said in the release. “That authority includes the ability under the Constitution to enact and enforce laws protecting the sanctity of unborn life.”
The Texas Heartbeat Act allows any person to sue anyone who performs, induces, aids or abets an abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected on an ultrasound — which can be as early as five or six weeks after conception according to Medical News Today — and offers statutory damages of at least $10,000 for each abortion if the defendant is found liable.
The act, which the Texas Tribune said is “one of nation’s strictest abortion measures,” has been met with controversy from pro-abortion rights advocates since its implementation Sept. 1. Critics of the act point out many women do not know they’re pregnant until after the six-week time frame has passed, according to CNN.
