@Rancid
Hmmm. Good point. You are probably correct and that this provision of the law is struck down when that hits the courts.
FUCK Dude. You may have shown me how fucking diabolically cynical this so-called law is.
What you said motivated me to actually read the law. And sho'nuf you seem to have hit the nail on the head. Allow me a moment of drama.
So suppose I was a republican lawmaker who wanted to consolidate my base around the key issue of abortion. I have repeatedly promised to ban abortion but that pesky Roe V. Wade has stood in my way. Simply put, the government has a devil of a time banning or even severely limiting abortion.
So what these almost entirely white men did is put the onus to prosecute the state's will on private parties. It would be no different if the state did away with speeding enforcement but allowed any citizen to sue anyone going over the "speed limit". Here is how they did it:
Notwithstanding Section 171.005 or any other law, the
requirements of this subchapter shall be enforced exclusively
through the private civil actions described in Section 171.208. No
enforcement of this subchapter, and no enforcement of Chapters 19
and 22, Penal Code, in response to violations of this subchapter,
may be taken or threatened by this state, a political subdivision, a
district or county attorney, or an executive or administrative
officer or employee of this state or a political subdivision
against any person, except as provided in Section 171.208.
The only enforcement of the law is by private lawsuit. The state can't be blamed. And these mostly white men knew that there would be an endless number of extortionists willing to use this law to extort money from medical practitioners.
But they fucked up. My personal belief is that they never thought for a moment that the SCOTUS would allow the law to stand. They were certain that it would be struck down and they would have had their grandstand play, consolidated their base, and raised a shit ton of money. They misjudged the religious fervor of Justice Barrett and the need for revenge by our other right wing friend.
Now what they have is a political shit storm. Polls in March showed that the percentage of voters wanting relatively easy abortion at 38% and the number wanting a ban at 31%. Generally pro-life 41% and generally pro-choice at 50%. In today's political climate these are big differences. Americans in general are 51-36 against the law. Texas are too by a small plurality.
But here is how this will shake out.
Texas Republicans could have kicked this can down the road. They did not need to take the risk. And it is a huge risk. The mid terms are coming and they were eyeballing some iffy democratic seats from Texas. This issue will likely kick women in the ass and get them out to vote. It will mean nothing to men. It never has been a big issue with male voters who lie about it most of the time.
snip
The SCOTUS has agreed to hear the Mississippi case setting a 15 week time limit. They are due to rule just a few months before the mid terms. If they uphold the MS law they abolish Roe V. Wade ( or very seriously limit it) right before a national election. (See the numbers above.) There is no amount of money on earth that could hand this kind of a victory to democrats. And if they strike down the MS law, the Texas law goes south too, pissing off their base, energizing the opposition and generally playing old Harry with what would have been a cake-walk victory to the house and maybe the Senate.
They truly are the dog who caught the car.
snip
I have little to no faith in female voters. They have, time and again, shown themselves to be political non-players. They can barely get a few women in national office and
seem to vote how their husbands tell them to vote. Oh I get that they took to the streets when Trump was elected but after a three month hissy fit they went home and cooked dinner and back to the office to play at what they believe being a man looks like. Did they come out and hand Biden a decisive victory? Black ones did. White women. Hardly.
But will this do it? Will this political train wreck finally get women to put on their finest passive-aggressive panties and in the anonymity of the voting booth get rid of these anti-woman Republicans? I hope so. I do not think so.
But I encourage everyone to read this Texas law. It is a fascinating look at how cowards try to do nothing while making the most noise possible. And all the time, with their fingers crossed behind their backs, praying to all that is Holy that the SCOTUS does what they really want it to do. Which is let them keep their big time, vote getting issue.
Because at the end of the day, if the SCOTUS lets these laws stand and abortion essentially goes away, those Republican women-single-issue voters will go looking for something else to back. And that means just about every Democrat social welfare program.