Lubbock County, Texas, joins a group of other rural Texas counties that have voted to ban women from using their roads to seek abortions.
This comes after six cities and counties in Texas have passed abortion-related bans, out of nine that have considered them. However, this ordinance makes Lubbock the biggest jurisdiction yet to pass restrictions on abortion-related transportation.
During Monday’s meeting, the Lubbock County Commissioners Court passed an ordinance banning abortion, abortion-inducing drugs and travel for abortion in the unincorporated areas of Lubbock County, declaring Lubbock County a “Sanctuary County for the Unborn.”
The ordinance is part of a continued strategy by conservative activists to further restrict abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade as the ordinances are meant to bolster Texas’ existing abortion ban, which allows private citizens to sue anyone who provides or “aids or abets” an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
The ordinance, which was introduced to the court last Wednesday, was passed by a vote of 3-0 with commissioners Terence Kovar, Jason Corley and Jordan Rackler, all Republicans, voting to pass the legislation while County Judge Curtis Parrish, Republican, and Commissioner Gilbert Flores, Democrat, abstained from the vote.
How the fuck do you even enforce this?
So: snitching.
And they’re damn slick about it, too. They start by asking a woman who they think might be pregnant how far along they are, if they have a name picked out, all innocent and normal questions to ask an expecting mother, right? Like, they do it at rest stops and gas stations. And because the woman seeking an abortion isn’t being questioned by someone who outwardly looks like a cop, they let their guard down. So, basically if you’re a pregnant woman in Texas and you are seeking to leave the state for an abortion, trust NOBODY. Keep your guard up, don’t answer any questions, and don’t stop anywhere unless absolutely necessary.
So close… Just don’t answer questions in Texas. Regardless of your gender, natal status, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs, someone is trying to fuck you with something. Even being a cisgender heterosexual white male is not safe if your lacking a confederate flag or maga hat.
In all seriousness, the only correct response to someone in Texas randomly asking a woman questions about a pregnancy is very appalled and indignant “No I’m not doing insert activity here. I’m not pregnant. Are you calling me fat?”
Like I said, they’re slick about it. They hit ya with that folksy charm and try to get you gabbin about your business so they can later call someone and say “This person ain’t like us! Let’s git em!”
Yeah, I wonder how they would react if you responded to the “names” line with “Oh, if it’s a boy we were thinking either Azezal or Baphomet, and for a girl we absolutely have to use Lilith. It is always prudent to have a backup so maybe Lamia? What do you think?”
By stopping all cars with pregnant women and telling them they aren’t allowed to leave the county. I imagine that’s what they might end up doing.
I’d say that’d wind up in front of the Supreme Court really fucking quickly…
Except, I think that’s what they’re counting on…
They’re also counting on people without means not being able to take it to court to begin with. A quick look at a map tells me there’s an airport in Lubbock county, I bet there hasn’t been a law introduced to keep pregnant women off of an airplane…
Ah, so its only no abortion for the poor then.
As expected. Rules are for the poors.
Are you surprised?
No, they do it through the same mechanism that made the Texas Heartbeat Bill possible. Private reporting and investigation, AKA snitching. Remember in Texas you can get $10k for reporting a woman seeking an abortion.
Selectively
You beat me to it.