Laurence Tribe: Roe v Wade died with barely a whimper. But that's not all

[dalton99a]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/02/roe-v-wade-texas-abortion-law-us-constitution

Roe v Wade died with barely a whimper. But that’s not all
Financial rewards given to those shredding the US constitution? That is the reality of the Texas law on abortion
Laurence H Tribe
Thu 2 Sep 2021 10.34 EDT

...

Observers have speculated how today’s new ultra-right court would commence the slicing: by chipping away slowly at Roe v Wade? Or by taking the political heat and overruling it outright? Few imagined that the court would let a statute everybody concedes is flagrantly unconstitutional under the legal regime of Roe not only go into effect without being judicially reviewed but become the centerpiece of a totally unique state scheme that puts a bounty of at least $10,000 on the head of every woman who is or might be pregnant.

It wasn’t just Roe that died at midnight on 1 September with barely a whimper, let alone a bang. It was the principle that nobody’s constitutional rights should be put on sale for purchase by anyone who can find an informant or helper to turn in whoever might be trying to exercise those rights.

That, after all, is how the new Texas law works. Its perverse structure, which delegates to private individuals anywhere a power the state of Texas is forbidden to exercise itself until Roe is overruled, punishes even the slightest form of assistance to desperate pregnant women. Doctors, family members, insurance companies, even Uber drivers, are all at risk if they help a woman in need. And the risk is magnified by the offer of a big fat financial reward for whoever successfully nabs a person guilty of facilitating an abortion once a heartbeat can be detected, typically six weeks after a woman’s last period, well before most women even know they are pregnant. There is not even an exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. No law remotely like this has ever been allowed to go into effect.

The prospect of hefty bounties will breed a system of profit-seeking, Soviet-style informing on friends and neighbors. These vigilantes will sue medical distributors of IUDs and morning-after pills, as well as insurance companies. These companies, in turn, will stop offering reproductive healthcare in Texas. As of a minute before midnight on 31 August, clinics in Texas were already turning patients away out of fear. Even if the law is eventually struck down, many will probably close anyway.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. It is truly an evil moment when Texan legislators can wreak this havoc on innocent women. n/t

[Beartracks]

2. "Soviet-style informing on friends and neighbors" -- Republicans did that.

Last anyone forget. When Republicans accuse Democrats, as they always do, of being socialists, THIS is the moment that proves Republicans do that because they have always themselves wished to set up such an autocratic state.

========

[Captain Zero]

3. It's a bounty on miscarriages too, isn't it?

The woman would have to prove it wasn't an abortion, but not be able to recover her costs to defend herself.

[Hekate]

4. There's a certain depraved mindset that says there's no such thing as a natural miscarriage...

… and that it was definitely the woman’s fault, no matter what.

She must have smoked a cigarette (legal) or had a beer (also legal) or taken medication prescribed by her doctor (yes, also legal) — and they hammer away until they convince themselves she’s a coke-snorting meth user.

Seriously, some of the stuff I have read over the years has made me want to hurl.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. K&R. He also discussed this tonight with Lawrence O'Donnell (video):

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017678845

Lawrence O'Donnell talks to Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe about the Texas anti-abortion bill that the Supreme Court refused to block.