+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
Democracy

Texas is being sued for an abortion law that puts 'bounties' on people who help patients

Texas is being sued for an abortion law that puts 'bounties' on people who help patients
via Lorie Shaull

A new provision that passed the Texas State Legislature spring is one of the most aggressive anti-abortion laws in recent history. The provision, which takes effect on September 1, allows just about anyone in the U.S. to sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion after a doctor detects a fetal heartbeat, usually about six weeks into the pregnancy.

Those who are successful in court will be awarded at least $10,000 from the state.

That means that just about anyone involved in the procedure can face legal consequences. The doctor, parent who gave permission, the abortion clinic, a friend who gave a ride, or the person who paid for the procedure could all be sued for participating.

The only person that can't be sued for the procedure is the patient.

"The state has put a bounty on the head of any person or entity who so much as gives a patient money for an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before most people know they are pregnant," Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. "Worse, it will intimidate loved ones from providing support for fear of being sued."

Suits can be brought up by just about anyone whether it's an anti-abortion activist on the other side of the country or a disapproving parent. The law is especially out-of-the-box because instead of allowing the state to police illegal abortions it deputizes and awards the average citizen to be the enforcer.

"Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion," Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said when he signed the legislation at a closed-door ceremony in May. "In Texas, we work to save those lives. That's exactly what the Texas Legislature did this session."

The law is also under scrutiny because it deems any abortion that happens after a fetal heartbeat can be heard is determined to be illegal. That's in sharp contrast to federal protections that currently allow abortion to take place until the fetus is able to survive out of the womb, which is at about 23 to 24 weeks.

Six-week bans have been passed in other states but they've all been blocked as they make their way through the court system.

"It's completely inverting the legal system," Stephen Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told The New York Times. "It says the state is not going to be the one to enforce this law. Your neighbors are."

Abortion rights advocates and providers filed a lawsuit in Texas on Tuesday to block the law. The large group of plaintiffs includes the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and multiple Texas abortion providers.

The ACLU says that the law encourages "bounty hunters" to enforce the law.

"SB 8 would allow anyone — including anti-abortion activists who have no connection to the patient to act as bounty hunters — to take doctors, health centers, and anyone who helps another person accesses abortion to court to collect at least $10,000 for each abortion if they win," the organization said in a statement.

The lawsuit comes weeks after the Supreme Court announced it would consider the legality of Mississippi's ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Some abortion advocates believe that this is a signal the conservative bench is eyeing to overturn Rowe v. Wade.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
abortion
Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
dogs
Family

Pediatrician shares two simple tips that could save a child's life at a pool party

"The more folks present, the safer the pool is, right? Wrong."

Photo by Ash Dowie on Unsplash

If there's a body of water anywhere, a designated adult needs to have their eyes on it.

It's that time of year when the weather across the country is warm enough for families to enjoy outdoor barbecues, picnics and pool parties. That means it's also the time of year when tragedy will strike a certain percentage of families who get blindsided by how quickly and easily a child can drown in a backyard pool, even when they're surrounded by people who care about them and their safety.

We've all been at a gathering where adults are coming and going, chatting, setting up food, taking trips to the bathroom, all while kids are busy playing in the water. In such scenarios, it's easy to assume that someone else is keeping an eye on the pool.

But as pediatrician Diane Arnaout has shared, the harrowing reality is that the more people there are at a pool party the more likely it is that a child could slip into the pool or become distressed in the water without anyone noticing.

In a Facebook post that has been shared more than 77,000 times, Dr. Arnaout wrote:

Keep ReadingShow less
pool safety
Pop Culture

Crying fan embraced by Drew Barrymore explains why the moment was 'super special'

"Like myself, Drew has had a super hard life," she said.

via Eva Rinaldi/Flickr

Drew Barrymore speaks during the FLOWER Beauty launch at Westfield Parramatta on April 13, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.

Drew Barrymore, 48, has been in the public consciousness since she starred as Gertie in 1982’s mega-blockbuster, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. So, it makes sense that many people of a certain age feel as if they’ve grown up with her.

Now, she’s an even more significant part of people’s lives as the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which runs every weekday on CBS.

On May 25, the show’s Instagram page posted a touching video of an off-the-cuff moment between Barrymore and a fan during a taping of her show. In the clip, Barrymore realizes that someone in the audience is crying. So, instead of ignoring the fan, she jumps to action to see what is the matter.

Keep ReadingShow less
drew barrymore
Pop Culture

Musician uses traditional Chinese instrument to create hypnotic cover of 'Hotel California'

There are literally hundreds of covers of this song floating around on the internet, but this one has its own unique flair.

Moyun/Youtube

Moyun peforms "Hotel California" on the guzheng.

The Eagles' hit song, “Hotel California,” has been covered countless times over the years by a variety of artists, including the likes of Nancy Sinatra, the Gypsy Kings and that guy at your local karaoke spot.

And while every rendition gives the song a fresh dynamic, one musician with a penchant for mystery has transformed the rock n’ roll staple into something entirely new.

Using a traditional Chinese string instrument called a guzheng, Moyun plays the song focusing mostly on its two guitar solo arrangements, creating a sound that has all the otherworldly beauty of an ancient folk tale.
Keep ReadingShow less
music
Pop Culture

Man rewatches shows from his childhood and his recaps of the bonkers storylines are priceless

Rob Anderson's hilarious recaps of shows like "Mighty Ducks," "Beethoven," and "7th Heaven" might make you wonder how they got made in the first place.

@hearthrobert/TikTok

These plots makes zero sense.

While there are no doubt some timeless classics from our childhood that remain every bit as amazing as we remember, many are straight-up cringey upon a later viewing. Really, it’s to be expected as societal viewpoints change…sort of a marker of how far we’ve collectively come.

And so, what do we do with these problematic pieces of old-school pop culture? Well, we can certainly update them to better reflect a more modern attitude, but that also comes with a set of potential problems. Or we could simply never watch them again. Certainly an option given all the content out there. But then we might miss an opportunity to better understand what seemed to work for the mainstream then, and why it doesn’t work now.

And then there’s the third option—allow ourselves to be entertained by their cringiness.

That’s certainly the route taken by Rob Anderson. Over on TikTok, Anderson has taken ultra-popular movies and television shows from his childhood and given them hilarious recaps capturing how absurd some of the storylines are.
Keep ReadingShow less
movies
Joy

Woman decides that she is the love of her life and marries herself at her retirement home

“I said, you know what, I’ve done everything else. Why not?”

KCEN|YouTube

77-year-old woman decides she's the love of her life and marries herself.

We joke about marrying ourselves or a platonic friend if some arbitrary amount of time has passed without a proposal from an imaginary suitor. And sure, some people do wind up marrying a friend in more of a business arrangement, but it's not very common that someone follows through with marrying themselves.

Dorothy "Dottie" Fideli, decided that she was going to break the mold. The 77-year-old sat down and thought about all of the things she had done in life and who was with her the entire time cheering her on. It was an easy answer: herself. She was her biggest cheerleader, the person who always showed up and the love of her life, so Fideli made the plan to marry herself.

On a beautiful May day, friends and family gathered in the O’Bannon Terrace Retirement Community, where Fideli is a resident, to witness the ceremony.

Keep ReadingShow less
love
Trending Stories