There Has To Be A Backlash

 Authorities in Texas have arrested a woman for murder when she had a "self-induced abortion." 

Amazingly, a search of the Washington Post and NY Times does not turn up a story on this. So either there's some ambiguity or uncertainty surrounding the story or we are seeing a failure of elite media. Again.

Secondly, I've tried to look up the penalties for abortion providers under Texas' new snitch laws. It does not appear to include charges for murder. The idea behind the bill is to have private citizens sue abortion providers for damages, in order to drive abortion providers out of the state. So, I'm not quite sure under what statute this woman was arrested.

It took place in the Rio Grande Valley, which is overwhelmingly poor and overwhelmingly Hispanic. Did someone turn her in? Or is she a test case for abortion restrictions?

The internal contradictions to Texas' (and other states') new laws on abortion or myriad. It proceeds from a position that all abortion is murder. But Roe allows for abortion, and rather than take Roe on directly, these laws target the provider with monetary penalties rather than follow through on the logic of "abortion is murder." The arrest of Lizelle Herrera is a logical extension of anti-abortion moral absolutism, but it does not seem to be justified under even Texas' draconian anti-abortion laws. 

Is Herrera a test case? And for which side of the debate? Could pro-choice activists have used this to test the limits of the anti-abortion laws? The fact that this is taking place in a very poor part of Texas makes me have doubts. Perhaps anti-abortion zealots somehow found out about Ms Herrera's use of RU 482 and want to see how far they can push the limits.

This is a very strange story and I wouldn't say anything is off the table.

What is clear, at least at this point, is that anti-abortion politics is not terribly popular and yet Republicans continue to push them, like they are with oppressive measures against LGBTQ communities. This is clearly a "motivate the base" strategy. One would think that it would also be very motivating for those suburban voters that turned against the GOP in 2018 and 2020.

For decades, the GOP has been able to use anti-abortion rhetoric and promises to motivate the Talibangelicals that make up the bulk of their voters without actually having to enact draconian anti-abortion measures. With Trump packing the Court with reactionary zealots, they are suddenly acting on these horrific ideas.

The electoral climate isn't great for Democrats this coming November (although it should be). GOP overreach might be...check that...ought to be a huge mobilizing factor for Democratic voters. At least, I hope so.