Anti-Abortion Vigilantes Are Now Going Door-to-Door in Texas

[milestogo]

Dallas, Texas — The anti-abortion activists carried two brochures as they walked from doorstep to doorstep in Dallas on Tuesday evening. The first was small and brightly colored, boasting a picture of a diverse group of smiling women under the headline “Free Women’s Health Services in Dallas.”

The second brochure was four pages of type and printed in stark black and white. It bore a very different title: “Search, Sue, and Shut Down Texas Abortion Facilities.” “The abortion industry has been victimizing women and children for decades—and Texans now have the power to stop it,” announced the brochure, which was carried by a group dispatched by Students for Life of America, a national organization that seeks to mobilize anti-abortion young people. “It’s TIME to abolish abortion in Texas.”

It was a call to action for anti-abortion advocates in Texas, who, in the last week, have been handed an unprecedented power. A recently enacted law bans abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many people know they’re pregnant. But unlike other similar laws in a handful of conservative states, which have been blocked from taking effect, the Texas government does not intend to enforce the ban by itself.

Instead, it’s turned the ability over to its people. Now, complete strangers may be able to sue anyone who “aids or abets” someone who gets an abortion past that six-week benchmark. If their lawsuits are successful, these anti-abortion vigilantes can be rewarded $10,000 in damages—plus attorney fees. (If they lose, the person who they’ve sued isn’t able to recover those fees.) Anyone in an abortion patient’s orbit could face a lawsuit: the providers, the people who help pay for the abortion, the people who drive the patient to a clinic.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5ge7x/anti-abortion-texas-vilgilantes-sb8?utm_source=vicenewstwitter

[Corgigal]

1. When they go "missing" like a lot

of pregnant women do, let me know.

[Lars39]

2. Lie to their faces

and mobilize out of sight.

[SheltieLover]

3. K&R!

[dalton99a]

4. It is now a treasure hunt

[milestogo]

7. I suppose some of them will pay their way through college by attacking the rights of other women.

[hlthe2b]

5. How long before some of these intruders run into someone devoted to the "castle doctrine?"

I'm sure the police won't run them off, so one might wonder if things might not escalate.

[Srkdqltr]

6. Do they consider sperm donors "aiding and abetting "?

[Beaverhausen]

8. Wouldnt it be nice if they instead volunteered with...

… children’s charities, etc.

I mean. They care about children, right?

[mopinko]

9. but heaven help us if joe sends workers to help people get their shots.

had 2 lovely older ladies come to my door in chi a week ago, checking to see if they co8ld hook people up who still needed shots.
why anyone would object to THAT, i cant imagine.

[roamer65]

10. Time for 2nd amendment rights?

[BComplex]

11. That's what I was wondering.

We're bad.

[2naSalit]

12. About half way down the comments...

I thought of that too.

[KT2000]

13. Can multiple people sue

the same person? Would the woman have to pay everyone who sues her the $10,000? Driver? providers? I can see where people could become very wealthy if that is the case - entire families could join in?

[sinkingfeeling]

14. What's in the water of Texans? How could anyone possibly believe Abbott's stupid laws will magically

end either abortions or rapes?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. The DOJ can add this assholes to the lawsuit

[IzzaNuDay]

16. Since there is no gun control in Texas

How would these door to door vigilantes feel when the door is opened and a shotgun end appears to meet them?

[smirkymonkey]

17. What if a person tries to sue you with absolutely no grounds?

They just make it up. Can you just ignore them? Don't they have to provide some kind of evidence that they have a case before they can force you to hire an attorney to defend yourself from a bogus charge?

This is just all kinds of fucked up in so many ways I don't even know where to start.

[Solly Mack]

18. I would absolutely go off on anyone that came to my door with that shit.

I don't tolerate proselytizers of any kind.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. I bet the "Free Women's Health Services" will be surveilling anyone who comes to them pregnant

in case they get a chance to sue over a later abortion. All of their "clients" will be "Under His Eye", so to speak.