Pregnant Women in Texas Will Soon Be Fair Game for Abortion Bounty Hunters

Pregnant MotherOP

Poorly conceived policies often have serious ramifications and Texas may be on the verge of rolling out the worst one ever, backed by even more draconian measures to enforce it that wouldn't seem out of place in the East Germany of the 1960s. The results could be devastating for both local communities and women’s rights.

The issue centers around Texas Governor Greg Abbott's 6-week Abortion Bill, signed into law last month and about to be enacted in the next few weeks. A Republican-driven initiative, the bill hitched its coattails to the Right to Life movement, seeking to prevent abortion in pregnancies older than six weeks and in effect, overturn Roe. Vs Wade.

The bill bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected. It includes cases where the woman was impregnated as a result of rape or incest. There is an exception for medical emergencies. Similar “heartbeat” bills have been passed by other states and held up by the courts, but Texas’ version has a very new and bizarre twist.

The bill allows 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 a $10,000 award and the cost for attorney’s fees. Effectively, a bounty.

Pro-choice advocates rightly worry that this “cash prize” or “incentive” may create a new cottage industry of aggressive anti-abortion bounty hunters.

The law is to come into effect on Sept. 1, and lawyers for abortion clinics are unsure of how to address it as the government isn’t the enforcing body. In the past, six-week bans in other states have all been eventually found unconstitutional as they’ve risen through the legal system.

Texas Republicans, however, in a side step that appears inspired, have overcome the hurdles faced by other states. They've simply moved the onus of policing the bill onto the public, making contesting it far more complex.

Here is how things usually work.

Governmental agencies shut down or challenge abortion clinics accused of breaking the law, and the clinics then have recourse to challenge the constitutionality of the state law through the courts. Now, in the new Texan bill, by deputizing Americans to sue on their own, clinics and doctors can no longer employ that method.

As no one other than the public is enforcing the law, there is no one to sue until such time as the law is enforced, and at that point, you will need to sue the individual Texan that has brought the complaint. Possibly a friend, family member, or neighbor.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been given a free pass in this instance and cannot be sued for the abortion bill. According to Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston who was recently interviewed;

“Every citizen is now a private attorney general. You can have random people who are against abortion start suing tomorrow.”

More than 370 Texas attorneys, including county attorneys, current and former elected officials, former judges, and law professors wrote a letter to the state legislature earlier this spring expressing their concerns over the bill. An extract below.

“In an attempt to avoid a constitutional challenge that the state will likely lose, these bills are drafted to remove any state actor from enforcing them, but allow ‘any person’ to use Texas state courts to enforce compliance with 28 existing regulations and the new unconstitutional ban.”

Other hugely worrying aspects of the bill relate to rape and the legal avenues made available to rapists by the bill. In theory, the bill enables a rapist to sue a doctor for providing care to a sexual assault survivor and for the rapist to recover financial damages. As most rape cases go unreported, the obstacle of a conviction impending legal proceedings doesn't apply in most rape cases.

There are going to be lengthy concerted steps taken to undo the Abortion Bill as many Texans claim the bill is unconstitutional. They may be right, but who are they going to sue?

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