The Supreme Court’s decision to take away the reproductive rights of tens if not hundreds of millions of Americans marks the ascension of the Conservative Christian zealot movement in our country. There have been many pop-up forced-birther groups around the country over the years. One of those groups was Texas Right to Life. Its former political director is a man named Luke Bowen, but you might not realize that because Texas Right to Life has spent the last couple of weeks quietly getting rid of Bowen’s digital footprint in their organization.
Texas Right to Life is what passes for a standard anti-abortion, pro-forced-birth group. They support candidates who call LGBTQ+ people and teachers “groomers,” and stick to the general conservative Christian lines. Here’s a countdown to answer why Bowen is no longer employed there: three, two, he’s been arrested and charged with soliciting sex from a minor online.
He was arrested on Aug. 3 in Conroe, Texas. According to reports, that is the same day that he became the “former” political director of Texas Right to Life. Houston-based Chron reports that Bowen’s charge is a second degree felony in the Lone Star State that carries up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The story originally broke on independent news sites like Living Blue in Texas, where Bowen’s case number and pre-scrubbed social media accounts are still screenshot and on display. From Chron:
Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Mike Holley said that Bowen's arrest was the result of a sting conducted as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force program. ICAC bills itself as a "national network of 61 coordinated task forces, representing over 5,400 federal, state, and local law enforcement," and which helps train local agents to run these types of stings.
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DA Holley told Chron that Bowen’s arrest was “on the scene,” which means he was soliciting what he thought was a minor but was law enforcement, and it rose to a level where law enforcement did not need to get a warrant to go and arrest him.
Texas Right to Life's director of media and communications Kim Schwartz did not elaborate about how Bowen was terminated on the same day that he was arrested and charged with soliciting a minor online, but VICE reports she did respond to one inquiry explaining “He was not involved with minors in our youth programs.”
The Courier of Montgomery County reports that Bowen is currently out of jail on a $50,000 bond. His next court appearance in scheduled for Sept. 22.
The people that believe their personal moral belief on life and sex and conception and who has a right to choose what to do with their body have always been a myopic group. Their interest in “life” is not a capitol “L.” It’s controlling women and pregnant people making decisions that they disagree with that threatens the sets of control they believe to be fundamental to their personal way of life. The acuteness of their anger toward others and their desires to control others’ lives says more about them than they realize.
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