What Is The Texas Bill That Puts Women’s Rights And Human Dignity At Risk?

Republican House Rep. Brent Money (R-HD02) has introduced a bill aimed at redefining life as beginning at fertilization, furthering his efforts to restrict reproductive rights. While he frames it as a measure to “protect unborn children,” the bill’s language could criminalize widely used birth control methods, including IUDs and emergency contraception. This proposal was first reported by Lone Star Left’s Newsletter.

Before debating whether a zygote or early-stage embryo qualifies as human and deserves legal protections, we need to address the concept of human dignity. According to Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “dignity as human dignity is the unearned worth or status that all humans share equally (either inherent or constructed).”

With this in mind, Rep. Money’s bill overlooks a crucial distinction: not all forms of life are the same as human life. Being human comes with specific characteristics that his definition fails to consider. If this bill prioritizes zygotes and early-stage embryos over actual humans, it raises a troubling question—will the law now shift its focus away from protecting the rights and dignity of living individuals?

HB2197 declares that unborn children are human beings entitled to full legal protection from the moment of fertilization. The bill amends multiple sections of the Texas Penal Code and Civil Practice and Remedies Code (not forgetting that also ignores common sense), effectively equating offenses against zygotes and embryos with crimes committed against living individuals.

Beyond that, the bill repeals existing laws that provide exceptions for abortion-related acts and broadens the scope for prosecuting offenses involving embryos. In doing so, it disregards the previously mentioned concept of human dignity.

This raises a critical question: What will happen in cases where pregnancy results from rape? According to a 2018 report from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the rate of violent victimizations not reported to police increased from 9.5 per 1,000 persons aged 12 or older in 2015 to 12.9 per 1,000 in 2018, while the rate of reported cases showed no statistically significant change. This is where we must address the shame that follows such experiences and recognize why reproductive rights are more critical than ever. Access to Plan B and other medical care can be essential in helping victims prevent pregnancy resulting from assault.

This highlights the urgent need for reproductive rights, especially for victims whose cases go unreported. Instead of prioritizing the rights of the unborn, perhaps the real focus should be on the countless rape cases that remain unseen and unaddressed. If birth control is criminalized we are also criminalizing rape victims.

As explained by the Lone Star Left’s Newsletter, Rep. Money presents this bill as an effort to stop abortions but its reach extends far beyond that. It would classify the termination of any zygote or early-stage embryo as homicide, potentially criminalizing doctors, patients, and even individuals who use certain forms of birth control. The only exceptions allowed are for lifesaving medical procedures when the mother’s life is at risk and cases of spontaneous miscarriage.

HB2197 argues that zygotes and embryos should be granted the same legal rights and protections as born individuals, relying on religious and ideological reasoning, including references to “the sanctity of human life created in the image of God.”

However, in his article Does Law Exist to Provide Moral Order?, Matthew Blackman explores this issue, citing legal philosopher H.L.A. Hart, who argued that “there must remain a realm of private morality or immorality which is, in brief and crude terms, not the law’s business.” Hart further connected this idea to John Stuart Mill’s doctrine in On Liberty, which states that “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others.”

By attempting to legislate morality, such as “the sanctity of human life created in the image of God,” HB2197 blurs the line between personal beliefs and legal governance, raising serious concerns about the role of law in a diverse, free society.

As concluded by the  Lone Star Left’s Newsletter, under this bill, women who use certain forms of birth control could potentially be charged with homicide—a crime that, under Texas law, carries penalties of life imprisonment or even the death penalty.