Texas Abortion Ban And The Rise Of Lawsuit Bounty Hunters

[Celerity]

Texas just passed the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation. But it’s far worse than any ordinary ban.

https://thebanter.substack.com/p/texas-abortion-ban-and-the-rise-of



WASHINGTON, DC -- The Texas legislature, dominated by white male Trump disciples, passed the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation this week, effectively banning the procedure. But it’s far worse than any ordinary ban. Not only is the (constitutional, for now) medical treatment banned after six weeks in Texas -- without exceptions for rape and incest, by the way -- but the means of enforcement creates a population of snitches, vigilantes, looky-loos, ambulance-chasers, and bounty hunters relentlessly pursuing pregnant women and their doctors. In other words, rather than reporting abortions after six weeks to law enforcement, the statute allows citizens to sue anyone making money from the abortion. And the suits can award the litigant a minimum of $10,000 -- again, minimum $10,000. That means doctors, nurses, or even the Uber driver who chauffeurs a patient to the OB/GYN can be sued for enabling abortions. During an era in which everyone’s up in everyone else’s business most of the time, especially in public places where unspooled freakouts are becoming a daily event, this law Thanos-snaps into existence money-motivated Karens stalking and doxxing pregnant women in the hopes of a gigantic pay-day. If they can prove it.

Spying on OB/GYNs will be commonplace -- that is, commonplace for the doctors who don’t decide to pack up their practices and move to states where they won’t be perpetually swarmed by money-grubbing scolds and fire-eating activists. All of the morons who go around incorrectly citing The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) as an excuse for why there shouldn’t be vaccine mandates will surely have no problem staking out the entrances to OB/GYNs across the state, demanding to know the medical business of every women entering the doctor’s office. Why? There’s fetuses to save and money to be made -- not necessarily prioritized in that order. Muddying the waters even further is the obscene reality that most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant at six weeks, just two weeks after one missed period. So, the question of the hour is: how will these pious soon-to-be bounty hunters even know whether it’s been six or seven or 10 weeks? The only way to know for sure is to check the patient’s medical record and, yes, such a move would be a massive violation of HIPAA. I suppose there could be informants planted inside clinics, but still -- they’d be violating HIPAA themselves.

Obviously, there are serious logistical issues with implementing this monstrosity, but the impact will remain the same: fewer OB/GYNs willing to perform abortions at all, for fear of being sued, leaving pregnant women to either carry their fetuses to term or to travel to a different state. However, contraception and especially the various morning after pills, like Plan B, are still available to Texas women -- for now. Several of the meds are free-of-charge for anyone with health insurance, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, while other meds are available over-the-counter. Suffice to say, Texas just gifted Big Pharma with what’s sure to be record sales. But, of course, these sales will be limited to the women who are aware of the availability of the meds and have the means to afford them. Another open question is whether rapists will be able to sue the women they assaulted, should the victims attempt to get abortions. It doesn’t matter whether a rapist is incarcerated, he can still pursue his victim for that sweet, sweet ten grand (or more). Lawyers are expensive, especially in rape cases, and $10,000 awarded in a separate lawsuit could make a dent in those fees.

I mean, they’re already guilty of rape and in prison for it -- confessing to the crime because the rapist discovered his victim had a potentially lucrative abortion after six weeks is no longer incriminating. All told, Texas lawmakers may have just gifted rapists with generous windfalls. Now, it’s still possible the Supreme Court will put a stop to this, but given the ideological makeup of the Bench, it seems highly unlikely. Duh. And if the justices fail to stay or overturn the law, the conventional wisdom today indicates that, yes, Roe v Wade could soon be struck down, along with the 1992 Planned Parenthood decision. And if all that happens, red states will see a mass exodus of reproduction-capable women to more hospitable blue states where OB/GYNs will continue to provide safe and legal abortions. Maybe that’s what Republicans want -- this apartheid for women. Maybe they’d rather force pro-choice women out of their various Galt’s Gulches as they seek ideological purity. The Texas ban further strips women of sovereignty over their own bodies, while, for doctors, it’s an intimidation tactic and yet another turning of the dial closer and closer to the end of abortion rights in nearly half the country. So much for the “medical freedom” canard from the Red Hat vaccine shirkers.

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[RKP5637]

1. Hitler and Goebbels would have loved these tactics, citizens spying on citizens. WTF is next. n/t

[2naSalit]

2. I suspect there will be...

A lot less sharing of personal info on social media since anyone from anywhere can launch allegations.

[PortTack]

5. Yes! Women will have to understand they cannot share a new pregnancy with ANYONE!

“A secret is no longer a secret when 2 ppl know.”

[RKP5637]

7. Yes, the internet will be even more of a blabbermouth! n/t

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

3. Has anyone filed the first lawsuit?

I'm surprised there weren't lawyers on the courthouse steps yesterday with dozens of pleadings in their hands to file as soon as the county clerk's office opened.

[Celerity]

6. not that I know of