hat made abortion a crime in Texas are articles 1191-1194 and 1196 of Texas’s penal code. Under these codes the only way a woman can have an abortion is if her life is in danger and she will die if one is not performed. Texas has had anti abortion laws since 1854. The first ever written abortion statue was in England in 1803 it made abortion of a ‘quick fetus’ a capital crime punishable by death. Lesser punishments for an abortion done before quickening were enacted. ‘Quickening’ is defined as the fetus’s first sign of movement in the womb. This act by Lord Ellenborough was the bases for abortion laws in the United States. Connecticut was the first state to pass abortion legislation. Although women would not receive the death penalty it would be illegal and not without consequences to terminate a pregnancy for a women ‘quick with child’. New York followed Connecticut’s lead and also enacted anti abortion laws in 1828. New York made all abortions illegal no matter what part of pregnancy the women were in. New York made it a misdemeanor to terminate a pregnancy in the first stages; in the latter stages it would be considered manslaughter. Most States adopted this way of dealing with abortion statues. A committee on criminal abortions was put in place in May of 1857. This committee would watch over the large population at hand and decide why people have abortions and why people should not have abortions. A change came about in the 1950’s that dissipated the difference between the different stages of pregnancy. All abortions were illegal and penalties would be enforced for both women and the doctors who preformed the abortion. Norma McCorvey known as Jane Roe too most, and her lawyer Sara Weddington challenged the statutes of all states not just Texas. Twice The United States Supreme Court heard the Roe V. Wade case. With the retirement of two Supreme Court Justices, Black...
