Discussions

We have all heard about the recent events in Texas in regards to women's rights. October 2 they are planing another women's March. Has anyone heard of anything being planned here to stand in solidarity with them?

Nope, as a woman I sure haven't heard about the women's rights march in Texas... What exactly are we protesting about now??  
 
Edited by PoodleLuvr, 2021-09-04 22:48:49

That would be the state government passing incredibly restrictive abortion laws.

Even if you're not interested in supporting a rally or march in solidarity, the situation in Texas is a fascinating case study into how far some people will go to achieve their o:bjectives - in this case the o:bjective of restricting women's reproductive rights.  
 
I'm very happy to be corrected if anything I say is incorrect. The Texas law is a bastardization of the law itself - so it can be a bit difficult to comprehend.  
 
But in its essence - the law does not make abortion illegal. It doesn't even compel the state to enforce the law. Instead, knowing that past attempts to restrict or ban abortion have been struck down by the courts, Texas lawmakers opted to introduce a law that would make it extremely difficult to provide or to assist women in seeking abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.  
 
They have done this by empowering any person to sue someone who provides abortion care once there is cardiac motion in an embryo (usually 6 weeks of pregnancy). Patients cannot be sued, but anybody who provides support can be sued, including doctors, clinic staff, counselors, lawyers, financiers, and even taxi/uber/lyft drivers (because they would have assisted in getting the person to the abortion - though that in itself is questionable because they likely would have no clue that they had done this). That risk of multiple lawsuits brought by anyone who wants to sue will likely make it extremely difficult for anyone to provide abortions or to assist someone in obtaining an abortion. So, performing, or assisting in an abortion will not result in a criminal case brought by the state - rather, it could result in multiple civil lawsuits brought by private citizens. Even if the lawsuits fail, the time and money wasted in defending yourself would be too high a risk for most.  
 
The US Supreme Court denied a motion to block the act in question on August 30.  
 
The law is pretty much unprecedented. And it's a bit scary, because you might imagine how similar laws could be used to achieve other goals. Essentially, it lets the burden of enforcement fall to the populace instead of the justice system - thereby potentially avoiding the issue of the justice system blocking the law because it is a violation of constitutional rights.  
 
Edited by JosephC, 2021-09-05 08:50:08

These legal changes are deplorable. Women’s rights are being torn away. Soon we will be hearing of botched abortions performed on kitchen tables by unqualified criminals. Unless a woman has money - the privileged can hop on a plane and have clean, safe, professional medical care somewhere else. The poor will have unsafe abortions or have babies that they cannot afford to raise. It won’t stop with abortions; women will again be 2nd class citizens, property, owned by husbands and fathers.

They are deplorable, just this year in Canada there was a vote in parliament on restricting abortion (sex selective), that had 82 conservatives vote in favor of. Which means it is in the realm of possibility to happen here.