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Available on Amazon.
ABORTION VIGILANTES AND BOUNTY HUNTERS? THEATER OF THE ABSURD IN THE WACKY NEW TEXAS LAW
Has anybody read about the particulars of the new Texas anti-abortion law? I mean beyond that the law prohibits all abortions for whatever reason - unless the mother goes into a life-endangering medical emergency - past six weeks from conception?
I just finished reading a couple of articles on the Texas law and, frankly, what I've read has blown my mind. Not because the law is so harsh, repressive, and misogynistic, which it is, but because it's so wacky.
Apparently post six-weeks abortions are now illegal in Texas, but - and this is according to the New York Times - "No law enforcement officer or other government official is tasked with upholding the new law. In fact, they are explicitly barred from doing so." Rather, the law is meant to be policed by private citizens who bring lawsuits against abortion providers. Not against the women seeking or receiving abortions; in fact the law forbids suing those women, the principle being, I suppose, that a woman mustn't be held responsible for making such a decision for herself.
I just finished reading a couple of articles on the Texas law and, frankly, what I've read has blown my mind. Not because the law is so harsh, repressive, and misogynistic, which it is, but because it's so wacky.
Apparently post six-weeks abortions are now illegal in Texas, but - and this is according to the New York Times - "No law enforcement officer or other government official is tasked with upholding the new law. In fact, they are explicitly barred from doing so." Rather, the law is meant to be policed by private citizens who bring lawsuits against abortion providers. Not against the women seeking or receiving abortions; in fact the law forbids suing those women, the principle being, I suppose, that a woman mustn't be held responsible for making such a decision for herself.
However, according to the law, anyone else in Texas - besides the woman who gets the abortion - who "aids or abets" in the carrying out of a woman's abortion can be sued not only by anyone in Texas, but by anyone anywhere in the United States. The category of people who can be sued includes not only the medical personnel who perform the abortion, but anyone who is even tangentially involved, such an Uber driver who brings a woman to a clinic or someone who helps a woman pay for an abortion.
A plaintiff who sues someone for violating the abortion law will be awarded $10,000 if their case is successful, the money to be paid by the person who aided or abetted with the abortion, who must also pay all their own legal fees as well as those of the plaintiff. If someone brings a frivolous lawsuit against someone else - say there's a neighbor you hate and so you groundlessly accuse them and sue them for breaking the "aiding and abetting in an abortion" law - the defendant is still required to pay their own legal fees, even if the lawsuit is deemed ridiculous and thrown out, nor can a frivolous plaintiff whose suit is thrown out be punished by being required to pay the defendant's legal costs.
And this Texas law that takes its enforcement out of the hands of the public criminal justice system and puts it into the hands of vigilantes and bounty hunters, this law that defies Logic 101, was upheld by the Supreme Court, five:
A plaintiff who sues someone for violating the abortion law will be awarded $10,000 if their case is successful, the money to be paid by the person who aided or abetted with the abortion, who must also pay all their own legal fees as well as those of the plaintiff. If someone brings a frivolous lawsuit against someone else - say there's a neighbor you hate and so you groundlessly accuse them and sue them for breaking the "aiding and abetting in an abortion" law - the defendant is still required to pay their own legal fees, even if the lawsuit is deemed ridiculous and thrown out, nor can a frivolous plaintiff whose suit is thrown out be punished by being required to pay the defendant's legal costs.
And this Texas law that takes its enforcement out of the hands of the public criminal justice system and puts it into the hands of vigilantes and bounty hunters, this law that defies Logic 101, was upheld by the Supreme Court, five:
...to four:
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The Court made the ruling quietly and hastily just before midnight on Wednesday, without the law having been fully briefed or considered by lower courts, which, frankly seems a somewhat sketchy move for the United States Supreme Court. In truth, even some of the justices seemed not quite to know what to make of the thing they'd been called upon to so quickly adjudicate.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who ruled against upholding the Texas law,
Chief Justice John Roberts, who ruled against upholding the Texas law,
...said he would have temporarily blocked it from going into effect until there was more time to determine whether this was a case of a state passing a law then avoiding responsibility for it by delegating the law's enforcement to the population at large.
Astute observation, Chief Justice.
In the meantime, in the two days since the Texas anti-abortion law was upheld, anti-abortion websites have popped up on the internet asking for tips on alleged violators of the law. However, at least one of these websites, a Texas Right to Life site called, "Pro Life Whistle Blower," has already been deluged with phony tips by TikTok activists.
Astute observation, Chief Justice.
In the meantime, in the two days since the Texas anti-abortion law was upheld, anti-abortion websites have popped up on the internet asking for tips on alleged violators of the law. However, at least one of these websites, a Texas Right to Life site called, "Pro Life Whistle Blower," has already been deluged with phony tips by TikTok activists.
TikTok is obviously better at responding to absurdity than the Supreme Court.
References:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/03/us/what-is-texas-abortion-law-as-equals-intl-cmd/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/us/supreme-court-texas-abortion-law.html
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1033048958/supreme-court-upholds-new-texas-abortion-law-for-now
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/03/1034008380/tiktok-texas-abortion-ban-spam-website-activists
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/03/us/what-is-texas-abortion-law-as-equals-intl-cmd/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/us/supreme-court-texas-abortion-law.html
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1033048958/supreme-court-upholds-new-texas-abortion-law-for-now
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/03/1034008380/tiktok-texas-abortion-ban-spam-website-activists
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