So much for being “pro life.”
Texas Republicans are considering a bill that could subject women who receive abortions to the death penalty.
The bill — House Bill 896 — was introduced by Texas State Rep. Tony Tinderholt.
Tinderholt said the bill subjecting women to the death penalty for having abortions would “force” women to be “more personally responsible.” He added that there would be fewer unwanted pregnancies if women “know that there’s repercussions.”
Such a vile comment suggests sex is a one-way act, and that only women bear responsibility for an unwanted pregnancy.
The bill is so controversial that even some anti-abortion groups are opposed to it, according to the Washington Post. And some Republicans in the state House don’t want the bill — that blatantly violates a woman’s Constitutional right to an abortion — to advance to a full vote. So far, Texas’ anti-abortion Gov. Greg Abbott has refused to comment.
However, Texas GOP lawmakers still gave the cruel bill a hearing on Tuesday.
Rep. Victoria Neave, a Democratic lawmaker from the Dallas area, spoke out against the bill at the hearing.
“I’m trying to reconcile in my head the arguments that I heard tonight about how essentially one is okay with subjecting a woman to the death penalty for the exact — to do to her the exact same thing that one is alleging she is doing to a child,” Neave said, according to the Washington Post.
This is not the first time Republicans across the country have tried to punish women for having abortions.
Back in 2011, a George Republican lawmaker wanted to subject women who have miscarriages to the death penalty. His bill would have forced women to prove that there was “no human involvement whatsoever in the causation” of their miscarriage. That bill failed to pass.
However, Republicans have passed extremely restrictive abortion laws in recent weeks in the hopes that legal challenges to the legislation will make their way to the Supreme Court — whose conservative majority could then overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guarantees women the right to an abortion.
The Georgia state Senate passed a bill that bans abortion starting at six weeks gestation — before many women even know they are pregnant. That bill would also open women and abortion providers up to being sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for obtaining or administering an abortion after that point.
Ultimately, Republicans will never stop their attempts to prevent women from exercising their legal right to an abortion.
And their quest to ban all abortions just keeps getting more and more extreme, with violent punishments for women who are simply making the best decisions for their health and well-being.
Published with permission of The American Independent.
