A new bill in Texas was approved by the state House on Wednesday that would make anyone liable who “aids and abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” after six weeks according to Vice, which means that an Uber driver could be sued for driving someone to an abortion clinic. Anyone who helps pay for the abortion or transports a patient to a clinic could face a lawsuit, as could a doctor who refers a patient for the procedure.
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The bill bans abortion as early as six weeks, and is a way to force ordinary people to police family planning choices. It still has to go back to the House for another procedural step, then the state Senate, and finally get signed by Governor Greg Abbott. It will likely sail through, and Abbott is probably going to sign it.
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Not only the doctors, but any random person in the US could sue the med staff & facility, patient, friend/family member/cab or Uber or Lyft driver who dropped the patient off at the facility… Frivolous lawsuits galore
#txlege #TexasDeservesBetter https://t.co/6lvMmKVNnu
— Kat Moon (@RavenMo84087044) May 6, 2021
Despite its likely success, the fight over the bill was intense, with someone women coming forward to share their own stories of reproductive choices.
“This legislature should not be dictating what we do as women with our own bodies,” said Democratic Rep. Donna Howard. “There have always been abortions and there always will be, despite the obstructions you’re putting in place here.”
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One amendment was added regarding rape, where a rapist would not be allowed to sure a woman impregnated by rape. However, the specificity of the addendum created more problems, according to a speech from Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos.
“What protections does your bill have for women who may be maliciously sued by rapists, by people who are stalking them, by ex-husbands who just want to sue the heck out of that ex-wife or woman and just drag her through court?” she asked.
Six weeks is absurdly early for an abortion ban, as at that time, very few people even know they are pregnant. Roe V. Wade prohibits states from banning abortion before around 24 weeks, when the fetus is viable. If this bill passes, it will probably start a court battle.
If signed into law, the legislation will almost certainly trigger a court battle. Roe prohibits states from banning abortion before a fetus becomes viable, a benchmark usually achieved at around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Six weeks is also before many people even know they’re pregnant
This is just one of many attacks on freedom of reproductive choice in the U.S., where anti-choice activists have been pushing the limits of what is acceptable state by state and placing absurd restrictions on hospitals, clinics, and patients. This bill in Texas, though, seems to involve everyone but the person carrying the fetus in their bodily autonomy.
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“They can be complete strangers to everybody involved and they’re now able to sue,” Drucilla Tigner, policy and advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas, told Vice. “This is clearly an attempt to find an end-run around the Constitution.”
*First Published: May 8, 2021, 7:06 am
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