General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublicans Are Turning Activists Into Enforcers
MICHELLE GOLDBERG
Republicans Are Turning Activists Into Enforcers
By Michelle Goldberg, Opinion Columnist
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/opinion/texas-abortion.html
"SNIP.....
A Texas law banning most abortions went into effect on Wednesday. By refusing to act on an emergency petition that would have blocked it, the Supreme Court did not overturn Roe v. Wade, but it rendered that precedent, at least for the time being, irrelevant.
Theres a sinister brilliance to the way this whole thing has gone down. Texas fashioned an abortion prohibition whose bizarre, crowdsourced enforcement mechanism gave conservative courts a pretext not to enjoin it despite its conflict with Roe. And the Supreme Court has made Roe momentarily useless without sparking the nationwide convulsion that would have come from overturning it outright.
The Texas law, known as Senate Bill 8, is now likely to be copied by conservative states across the country. As long as it stands, abortion in Texas is illegal after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy, or about two weeks after a missed period. There is no exception for rape or incest.
But perhaps the most shocking thing about S.B. 8 is the power it gives abortion opponents or simple opportunists over their fellow citizens. The law is written so that they, not the police or prosecutors, get to enforce it, and potentially profit off it. Under S.B. 8, any private citizen can sue others for conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion.
......SNIP"
applegrove
(118,026 posts)to do a police type job. Harkens back to when we lived in villages and all had ties that bind and vital roles to play.
Celerity
(42,674 posts)I also predict that one (likely far more) of these ratfuckers/snitches/profiteers is going to fuck about with wrong woman and is going to get killed, probably by the BF or husband.
It is going to be fucking chaos.
Less CO2 emissions.
Irish_Dem
(45,660 posts)Yes it is going to get violent, like 1/6.
Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)orleans
(33,987 posts)Response to orleans (Reply #3)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
NJCher
(35,435 posts)Because this is one aspect of this law that is pretty much unaddressed.
That is how the judiciary is going to handle this influx of inexperienced vigilantes going after women.
I understand the people behind the scenes on this law have already thought of this and have lined up lawyers to help the anti abortion vigilantes.
But even if they have, its not going to be pretty. The judiciary has been around a long time and they have their ways.
They (the people in the court system) hate and I mean hate pro se litigants. They will want nothing to do with this aspect of the law that the Texas legislators came up with.
This could be the Achilles heel of this law.
Irish_Dem
(45,660 posts)If they don't, vigilantes will come after them?
I look forward to reading your post tomorrow.