Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, left, and Democratic challenger Cody Grace

Abortion is illegal in Texas in most cases and its restrictions will now be left up to the states after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade – a ruling many Republicans say was wrong from the start.

“The Supreme Court has corrected a mistake – there is nothing in the United States Constitution that guarantees a right to abortion,” said State Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler. “A proper, legal viewpoint is that abortion should be left to the people acting through their representatives in the legislature and in Congress to regulate, not making up a right that doesn’t exist.”

Those on the other side of the aisle are stunned at the high court stripping a woman’s right that was fought for nearly 50 years ago.

“This is the first time in U.S. history that the Supreme Court has taken a right away from citizens – to me that’s awful,” said Cody Grace, a Democrat who is running against Schaefer in the Texas House District 6 race in November.

In its opinion, the high court called the Roe v. Wade ruling “egregiously wrong.”

“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” the opinion reads.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan vehemently opposed the ruling in their dissent.

“Rescinding an individual right in its entirety and conferring it on the State, an action the Court takes today for the first time in history, affects all who have relied on our constitutional system of government and its structure of individual liberties protected from state oversight,” they wrote.

Click here to read the court’s full opinion

Now that the decision has been reversed, there will be “severe” criminal and civil penalties for any doctor who provides an abortion, Schaefer said. At the last legislative session, a trigger law was put in place that will ban all abortions from the moment of fertilization starting 30 days after the Supreme Court’s judgment, which is typically issued about a month after the initial opinion.

But Schaefer said even today, all the old Texas laws banning abortions will become relevant again.

While penalties will be placed on those who may still perform abortions, the law does not allow a mother to be charged, Schaefer said. Texas law banning abortions also does not include ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages and allows exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk or serious bodily harm could occur, he said.

Any doctor who performs an abortion in Texas could receive a life sentence and fines of up to $100,000. Grace said the ban won’t stop abortions; they’ll just be sought through the black market or people will be “forced” to cross state lines.

Texas’ laws against abortions will hurt minorities, people of color and younger women, Grace said. Banning abortions will force teens to have children and leave their future plans behind, he added.

“It’s creating an environment of insecurity for young women and it’s creating almost a police state where people are looking over their shoulder if they do have some sort of an unwanted pregnancy,” Grace said.

Grace said he expects at the next legislative session laws against abortion will only be made stricter. Harsh criminal penalties and punishment for having an abortion out of state could become a reality, he said.

“I understand that some people don’t agree that that baby is a human being, that that fetus is a human being, but in reality it is and we have to protect that person in law. Even if we can’t agree on that, we can agree that mothers in a tough situation need help, support and that is something we can all do together,” Schaefer said.

Schaefer said Texas has been putting millions into “alternatives for abortion” such as adoption and resources to help pregnant mothers and medical assistance.

Grace said the way to stop abortions is not to make them illegal.

“The way to stop abortion is through more education, through more economic opportunity and through providing some path in the future where these women are not required to birth a child that they do not have the means to carry,” he said.

On the other hand, Schaefer said banning abortion was a move done right in Texas and an opportunity to protect unborn babies and speak about “what it means to be created in God’s image.”

The overturning of Roe v. Wade is “a historic moment that we’ve been waiting a long time for,” Schaefer said.

“I actually didn’t think I would see this day in my lifetime, but I am overwhelmed with joy at the opportunity we have now to have a vibrant culture of life in the state of Texas,” Schaefer said.