It keeps getting crazier and crazier and, of course, the most blatant craziness is in Texas.
An anti-abortion law in Texas will soon allow any U.S. citizen to sue Texas-based abortion clinics, doctors, and anyone who aids in an abortion. If successful, the petitioner, who does not have to reside in Texas, will receive an $10,000 award and the cost for attorney’s fees. Pro-choice advocates worry that this cash prize may create a new cottage industry of aggressive anti-abortion bounty hunters.
New Texas law opens up abortion bounty hunting
“If the barista at Starbucks overhears you talking about your abortion, and it was performed after six weeks, that barista is authorized to sue the clinic where you obtained the abortion and to sue any other person who helped you, like the Uber driver who took you there,” said Melissa Murray, a law professor at New York University.
New Texas Abortion Law Enlists Activists to Harass Providers in Court
… legal officials expressed concern that the bill was broad enough to allow sexual predators to profit off their assaults. “The bill is so extreme that it could even allow a rapist to sue a doctor for providing care to a sexual assault survivor and for the rapist to recover financial damages,” wrote Travis County attorney Delia Garza.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stood behind the provision, citing his religious beliefs. “Our creator endowed us with the right to life, and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion,” Abbott said in a bill signing ceremony in May. The legislature “worked together on a bipartisan basis to pass a bill that I’m about to sign that ensures that the life of every unborn child who has a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion.”
New Texas law opens up abortion bounty hunting
Again, I wonder why this hasn’t been fought as a religious freedom issue. Texas Gov. Abbott (aka Forced Birther) is forcing his religious beliefs on the rest of us. This cannot be allowed to stand.