Texas targets abortion centers with human trafficking law
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law earlier this month that requires abortion centers to display signs with human trafficking hotline numbers and makes it a first-degree felony to perform an abortion on a minor sex-trafficking victim. Abortion facility staff must display the signs in English and Spanish—and any other common language for the area—and post them in emergency rooms, bathrooms, and consultation rooms. Last month, the governor signed a law that requires commercial truck drivers to receive training on how to spot and report sex trafficking. The abortion center sex trafficking law goes into effect Sept. 1. —S.G.
Arkansas pro-life laws face legal challenge
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit last week against four Arkansas pro-life laws passed this legislative session. The suit challenges laws that ban dismemberment abortion, require third-party notification and permission before minors get an abortion, require reporting to law enforcement the details of abortions on girls between 14 and 16, and require doctors to obtain medical records for a woman’s pregnancy history. Three of the four laws take effect Aug. 29, with the medical records requirement set to take effect Jan. 1. —S.G.