Just 17 hours ahead of the passing of a Texas heartbeat bill prohibiting abortions after six weeks, one of the states' largest clinics reportedly conducted 67 abortions.
According to a report from The 19th, the Whole Woman's Health clinic in Fort Worth was filled with patients on Tuesday night, just hours before the pro-life law was set to go into effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Marva Sadler, the director for clinical services, said she realized that the clinic needed to perform "eight abortions an hour with only one doctor on duty, an octogenarian who had been working since 7 a.m."
"We are not the bad guys here," she told her team. "We are doing everything right and we're going to help everybody that we can. If there's someone that we can't help, it's not our fault."
One young woman, who was a drug user about to start serving a five-year stint in prison, reportedly begged Sadler to conduct an abortion. The woman was already 12 weeks pregnant and had three children at home, Faithwire reports.
According to existing Texas law, however, the woman could not receive an abortion because patients had to wait 24 hours after the appointment to have the procedure done.
Just before midnight, Sadler said she commended the doctor, telling him that physicians half his age would not be able to do what he did. She also reportedly told him that it still would have been a victory even if he had only performed one abortion.
On Wednesday morning, Sadler expressed grief as she already had to turn away four women, some of whom were just five weeks and six days pregnant.
"How unfair," she thought, "that those women yesterday were helped, and the women today don't have any help."
Pro-life advocates, however, have celebrated the new Texas law, calling it a victory. Pro-life activist and founder of Live Action Lila Rose wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, the day the law went into effect, "It's past midnight now in Texas. The Heartbeat Law has gone into effect. Every child with a detectable heartbeat is legally protected from being killed by abortion." She added, "Thinking of all the inestimably precious lives that will be spared today & their new lease on life. An amazing day."
It's past midnight now in Texas. The Heartbeat Law has gone into effect. Every child with a detectable heartbeat is legally protected from being killed by abortion.
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) September 1, 2021
Thinking of all the inestimably precious lives that will be spared today & their new lease on life
An amazing day
Photo courtesy: Arseny Togulev/Unsplash
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
