Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to “S.B.8 is full of hate and Texas is not a pro-life state” by Eileen Tyrrell.

As most of us have heard by now, last week, the United States Supreme Court declined to strike down Texas Senate Bill 8 (S.B. 8), also known as the “Texas Heartbeat Act”. As of late, there has been a lot of confusion as to the ramifications of this law coming into effect.

According to the law, as of Sept. 1, it is illegal in Texas to preform an abortion in cases where a “fetal heartbeat” has been detected. This usually occurs within the sixth week of pregnancy.

The law also stipulates that those who preform or induce an abortion (like physicians) or aids and abets such activity (such as insurance companies) after the “fetal heartbeat” is detected may have legal action brought against them. This law is specifically worded so that it excludes the women who got the abortion, and rather targets those who made it happen.

Furthermore, the law makes an exception for the exceptionally rare medical emergencies in which the life of the mother is in danger. In such cases, the law would not apply.

Now that we know what’s in the text of the law, let’s move on to some other popular issues its critics like to take.

One such argument is that Texas isn’t pro-life because it has lower standard of childcare. If Texas was really pro-life, then they would do everything possible to protect already born children as well. The standard of childcare is determined by a number of factors; education, health, the economy, their environment, etc. Because of all of the factors involved, it is incredibly difficult to manage.

This does not excuse bad policy; they could certainly do better. In fact, every state can. But just because there is a chance that your child might have a sub-par upbringing, does not mean that you should slaughter them in the womb. That is a ridiculous line of reasoning. If you see someone going through a hard time, do you kill them? Of course not! You help them to the best of your ability to get through their situation.

Another popular argument is that it is a double standard to both outlaw abortion, and also have the death penalty. However, the two are incomparable. It is not at all logically inconsistent, that we ought to remove permanently the worst scum from our society, while also maintaining that the most innocent people imaginable.

Those who haven’t had the opportunity to breathe the air, much less commit a heinous crime, ought not be unnecessarily killed.

Luke Barnes is a senior studying history and is the President of the Students for Life club.