Texas highways targeted by antiabortion activists seeking to block interstate travel
A new ordinance, passed in several jurisdictions and under consideration elsewhere, aims to stop people from using local roads to drive someone out of state for an abortion
Its just crazy to imagine how this can be enforced.
I have to assume its all after-the-fact. Like, someone travels to get an abortion and then the abusive spouse or nosey neighbors squeal. And then the state tries to trace the route and press charges in a municipal court.
I don't think that they plan to just blockade the highway and hassle everyone who passes through.
This is one of those "my neighbor is suing me for getting an abortion" laws.
One of the first things a fascist state needs to do to really hold on to power is make sure that it's impossible for citizens to live without breaking some law. You don't have enforce those laws 100%, in fact it's better if you don't. You just need to make sure that anyone can be lawfully arrested at practically any convenient time.
They'll get lists of trans kids, database them to car plates and use automated image recognition to know when the cars left the state. This will then be used to prosecute. It may even be used to investigate, such as when they've seen your plate go out of state they send some cistapo round for a home visit to make sure the kid isn't getting treated.
They'll get lists of trans kids
Trans kids who haven't begun to transition yet? That would be quite a feat.
I don't really think they care about trans kids. What they care about is the organizational system that makes transitioning possible. And they only really care about it because its an indication of "liberalism", and keys certain groups in as opposition that needs to be crushed.
This is, at its heart, a cold war.
Trans kids who haven't begun to transition yet? That would be quite a feat.
I am fairly sure one of the things they're attempting to do is forcefully detransition trans people. They absolutely do already have lists of kids that have sought some sort of medical care for gender dysphoria, or can create them.
one of the things they're attempting to do is forcefully detransition trans people.
In that case, maybe.
They absolutely do already have lists of kids that have sought some sort of medical care for gender dysphoria, or can create them.
Its possible. But I've seen the back end of the state bureaucracy on a number of occasions. They're more on the Mussolini end of the fascist spectrum in execution.
Vicious but more so lazy and cheap.
Particularly in CPS, the organization is nearly non-existent. A ton of this is running on the handful of people hateful enough to chase their neighbors for free.
A list of trans kids doesn't have to be an actual list of trans kids for the terror to work. The mere threat of such a list would be enough. The actual list could just as well be a list of kids reported by nosy neighbours or fascist teachers for "being at risk of being trans", ie. not performing their gender as they're expected to.
Yeah when it comes to terrorising parents you're absolutely right. You're essentially leaving a lot of parents with a decision about risk, the risk of child suicide over their dysphoria vs the risk of the state involving themselves and potentially taking your child for "abuse".
The sinister thing about calling it child abuse is that I can absolutely see that would seep into popular consciousness over time and normalisation of the law.
It very much looks like they're inventing a bullshit technicality to oppress their victims since directly punishing people for doing legal stuff in another state would get them in trouble with the federal government.
The same kinds of people who after elections will say if you don't like it you can leave.
Also the so-called "freedoms" group.
These people have 0 principles or convictions. There’s a million contradictions with them bc words and their stated principles don’t mean shit to them, they care about exercising power over people and that’s it.
“Freedom” is just a buzzword meant to signal to other reactionaries. they’ll say whatever they think sounds good but it doesn’t mean anything they’ll drop it the minute it becomes inconvenient.
They've been pivoting from "land of the free" to "save the children" as a rallying cry.
As the white nationalist "not enough blue eyed babies!" panic ramps up, we're going to see more outright eugenics talk.
They’re going to build a physical border around Texas with checkpoints at interstate highways. Razor wire and saw blades in between to catch people, as tested across the Rio Grande. A private company either directly owned by a state politician or relation of once will be contracted to test the urine of everyone passing through for hormones that indicate pregnancy or out of bounds for cis people. Booths will be set up in the style of TSA full-body naked radar cylinders with semi-privacy to piss in public while bodies are scanned for abnormalities such as unexpected secondary sex characteristics and piss bags taped to the inner thigh. New detention centers will be built to temporarily imprison those who fail this first screening while further invasions of privacy are conducted. A fast-lane option where blood screenings are conducted every 6 weeks at diagnostic laboratories (paid for out of pocket) will be available. A black market industry of false certification cards will thrive. Other states with gqp leverage will attempt to follow suit.
That’s the price of Freedom©™ under the lone star. Enriching ghouls and expanding the fascist police state to catch poor undesirables.
They're not going to do any of this, because it would too severely impact rich people.
Small low pop countries where local governments don't have money or manpower to do anything like this. Neither does the state, at large. They can barely maintain their enormous prison system, much less their domestic borders.
All this really amounts to is a means why which the AG can harass any pro-choice organization in the state with lawsuits.
Unlikely for it to go this far, not yet, but due to needing something huge for cover. Not due to impact on rich people. The TSA got implemented despite resistance and rich people get the fast lane or fly private. Could easily get an exemption for this barrier and also fly private over. Do rich people really drive across state borders all that often anyways? TSA was under cover of a culturally impactful terrorist attack. Now begrudgingly accepted. There is likely a missing ingredient before putting something like this in action in Texas. Abortion and trans fearmongering aren’t enough.
Open to hearing reasons why rich people would be severely impacted. They get away with most everything unless getting in the way of other rich people’s money. And something like this would put a lot of money into private hands.
The TSA got implemented despite resistance and rich people get the fast lane or fly private.
They got implemented after 9/11 and is far more security theatre than genuine impediment to travel.
This is going to be more security theatre if it is anything.
Do rich people really drive across state borders all that often anyways?
Routinely. Especially folks looking to party in New Orleans or gamble in Oklahoma.
idk, the existence of the tsa and their wandering hands has kept me from traveling p well, at least by plane
I'll admit, I haven't been patted down in a long time. But I'm a large dude. Not typically their favorite target. Not since "vaguely Arab looking" was cause for alarm, anyway.
This is going to be more security theatre if it is anything.
Exactly. There’s a lot of opportunities for private profits from security theatre.
A more likely option could be implementing those plate scanners for toll roads. Scan people going through pre-check lane, follow up on unauthorised vehicles. Everyone else queues up to answer questions, be pulled aside for further inspection such as at a border gate.
A number of major airports are located in these majority conservative counties.
Razor wire and saw blades in between to catch people,
The choose life freedom wire
In communist Russia the state forbids internal travel for urgent medical care between federations for political reasons, targeting minorities state functionaries assign as enemies of state values or for personal grudges.
or
In communist Russia the state forbids internal travel between federations to control the bodies of its population.
"And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?"
"I suppose."
"No papers?"
"No papers, state to state."
Just try enforcing that fuckin fash scum, go ahead create miles long traffic jams interrogating every women you see
See how far that goes
Performing a blood ritual tonight to summon the ghost of Santa Ana to finish the job
Brandon meanwhile looking on, doing nothing, reducing the harm. Cowardly ghouls.
Are you telling me that the geriatric Catholic who was best buddies with Strom Thurmond and opposed ending American apartheid does not, in fact, sympathise with socially progressive causes?
It's a legal sleight of hand enabling the fascist regime of Texas to punish women after the fact for getting a legal abortion in another state.
AND I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERIIIIIICAAAAAAAAAAAN
WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW I'M FREETexas will find a way. They can have some wackadoodle Texas GOP judge review the situation. And they will claim some nonsense like "the mother is undertaking preborn kidnapping". And then the ruling can go up the GOP legal foodchain until it finally reaches the GOP justices on the supreme court.
The enforcement will come through targeted vexatious litigation and criminal sanction. Its what they did to Food Not Bombs down in Houston. Just single out members of the organization with a bunch of fines and citations, and drown them in legal costs.
