Texas finds new way to punish and humiliate anyone who tries to get an abortion
For anyone who might ever become pregnant in Texas, the consequences of Republican governance could soon hit home in an extremely unpleasant way.
A Texas court is poised to allow a man who impregnated his former girlfriend the right to compel her deposition to seek money damages from out-of-state abortion providers that helped terminate her pregnancy. If allowed to proceed, anyone who becomes pregnant in the state of Texas and takes steps to end that pregnancy—whether by using pills obtained through the mail, or by traveling out of state—could be effectively stalked and forced into court by their sexual partner to explain their actions.
Just let that sink in for a moment.
Practically speaking, it means that sexual encounters and sexual relationships in Texas are now fraught with the potential expense and embarrassment of being dragged into court, should someone become pregnant and later decide—for whatever reason—to end their pregnancy. And because the primary motivation for forcing a sexual partner to go to court is the promise of a large award of money, this practice, if approved by the court, is likely to become pervasive throughout Texas.
The lawyer bringing this “test” case is former Texas solicitor general Jonathan Mitchell, who crafted the law that outlaws nearly all abortions in the state. (He also happens to be the lawyer who represented Donald Trump in the case involving Colorado’s attempt to disqualify Trump from the ballot in that state.)
As reported last week by Caroline Kitchener for the Washington Post, “The decision to target an abortion that occurred outside of Texas represents a potential new strategy by antiabortion activists to achieve a goal many in the movement have been working toward since Roe v. Wade was overturned: stopping women from traveling out of state to end their pregnancies.”