Some abortion foes question tactical wisdom of new Texas ban

The new Texas law that bans most abortions in the state has been welcomed by many of the religious leaders who help bolster the anti-abortion movement. Yet some abortion opponents in U.S. religious circles are wary of the law and questioning the movement’s current direction.

The wariness relates in part to the law’s most novel feature, which some critics view as an invitation to vigilantes: It provides no enforcement role for public officials and instead authorizes private citizens to sue anyone they deem to be assisting in an abortion, with the prospect of gaining $10,000 in the process.

The law “has serious downsides” and conveys that anti-abortion activists are willing to engage in “desperate and extremist tactics,” said Charles Camosy, an associate professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University who favors tougher nationwide restrictions on abortion.

“Because it appears to be playing legal games to get around rulings of federal courts, the law feeds the false narrative that pro-lifers don’t have public opinion on our side,” Camosy, a Catholic, said via email.

The law, Senate Bill 8, prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks. It was assailed in a recent column in the National Catholic Reporter, an independent online news outlet, by one of its senior reporters, Michael Sean Winters.

“I fear greatly that the premature implementation of this truly strange law will turn out to be the historic beginning of a backlash against the pro-life movement for which it is ill-prepared,” Winters wrote.

He said the law’s provisions encourage “a kind of vigilante justice we had all thought consigned to old Western movies” and warned that its implementation would likely prompt some women to resort to illegal...