Does a fetus count in the carpool lane? Abortion laws create new questions about legal personhood

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A pregnant Texas woman said her fetus should count as a person in an HOV lane. That legal question is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the thorny question of “personhood.”

Pooja Salhotra, The Texas Tribune
September 13, 2022

When a pregnant North Texas woman was pulled over for driving alone in a high-occupancy vehicle lane, she protested.
“I just felt that there were two of us in [the car] and I was wrongly getting ticketed,” the driver, Brandy Bottone, told The Dallas Morning News in July.

Bottone argued that under Texas’ abortion laws, which went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, a fetus is considered a living being. She argued the same should be true when it comes to the state’s traffic laws.

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Legal experts, meanwhile, warn that this traffic incident is just a small piece of a larger puzzle considering what it means to treat a fetus the same as a person. Debates about “fetal personhood” have been happening nationwide since the 1960s, when many abortion opponents started championing the idea. In Texas, abortion opponents are divided over whether a fetal personhood law is worth pursuing. But the concept is gaining traction nationwide and could become increasingly salient in Texas, where nearly all abortions have been banned and fetuses already have some legal rights.

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Full article

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The lawsuits could get pretty fascinating. Those boneheaded RepubliQans have really opened up a can of worms this time.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Isn't there a federal law that will indict for the death of a fetus

(as in an car accident, personal injury, homicide, attempted homicide) when the expectant mother is affected? Would this argument be an extension of that law?

[Beastly Boy]

2. Do I get my discount with T-Mobile when I refer a fetus for a subscription?

Claim a fetus as a dependent on my tax return at conception? Like, Dec 31st of the tax year?

I don't know about Alito, but I see opportunities here.

[Emile]

3. Did she pay the fine?

[mitch96]

4. So can a woman now put a "baby on board" sticker on the car window and ride in the HOV lane?

If stopped do you have to have proof of ++pregnancy?
This is gonna get interesting...
m

[Beatlelvr]

5. Why WOULD it count as a second person?

The idea is to lessen the number of cars on the road. The fetus doesn't have the option of driving but it decided to carpool instead!