During an interview for this month’s Texas Tribune Festival, Minnesota’s Sen. Amy Klobuchar added her voice to the chorus of liberal lawmakers complaining about the law in Texas that protects infants with a heartbeat from being aborted.
Texas put this new law into effect earlier this month after the Supreme Court refused to deem it unconstitutional. Among other things, the statute protects unborn babies with a detectable heartbeat from being murdered in their mother’s womb. It also empowers persons to report to the state abortion centers and doctors who are violating the law.
Klobuchar appeared at the annual festival virtually, telling Jennifer Palmieri, former spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign, that the bill is “sort of the worst-case scenario” for women in America.
“These Trump justices” have made it difficult for women “just trying to exercise their constitutional rights,” Klobuchar said while praising Justice John Roberts for siding with the liberal judges on the court’s 5-4 ruling.
Klobuchar then claimed that the law would create anti-abortion “bounty hunters.”
“They basically have said, oh, well, if you find out a woman is seeking an abortion, you can report her and get 10,000 bucks,” she alleged. “That means a neighbor that happens to overhear something. That means someone who hears a private conversation at a coffee shop. That could mean someone who drove someone. That could mean someone who’s spying on an abortion clinic or any kind of of health clinic that provides abortions. It’s just simply outrageous.”
In reality, Texas did not create a bounty system for women who have had abortions. Rather, it enabled regular citizens to sue those not complying with the new laws for a potential payout of up to $10,000 after a court battle.
Klobuchar also expressed her concern that Texas-style anti-abortion laws could be passed in other states.
“It’s not just about Texas,” Klobuchar said, “you already have governors and conservative legislators … saying, oh, we’re going to try this now. We already have Mississippi. The Texas law says … basically when you can hear a heart baby beat, basically in six weeks — if you don’t get in, if you’re seeking abortion services and you don’t get it by then, then you can’t get it or you can be reported and get in trouble,” she said — stumbling over the words “heart beat.”
The Texas Heartbeat Act has gained national attention since being signed into law in May. After the Supreme Court refused to strike it down earlier this month, a cascade of lawsuits have been launched by pro-abortion politicians, bureaucrats and activists, including the Biden administration’s Department of Justice.
In an effort to show their opposition to the bill, House Democrats voted Friday 218-211 in a largely ceremonial move to codify Roe v. Wade in federal law.
A cornucopia of woke corporations have also expressed outrage in response to the bill, including Apple, Salesforce, Lyft, Uber, and others. Some have said they’d be willing to pay re-location expenses for employees living in Texas who want to move elsewhere.
Web hosting giant GoDaddy even booted from their servers a website set up by Texas Right to Life that would enable users to provide tips on potential violators of the law. However, the site is back online now, presumably with a different hosting service.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, on the other hand, said he’s donating $20,000 to support Texas Right to Life’s efforts. Babylon Bee is a Christian satirical news website that mocks liberal media bias online.
Pro-life activists like Lila Rose of Live Action have hailed the bill as a major step towards protecting the rights of the unborn. Minnesota state Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, has plans to re-introduce his own version of the Texas bill in the Minnesota House during the next legislative session.
Stephen Kokx
Stephen Kokx, M.A., is a journalist for LifeSiteNews. He previously worked for the Archdiocese of Chicago under the late Francis Cardinal George. A former community college instructor, Stephen has written and spoken extensively about Catholic social teaching and politics. His essays have appeared in such outlets as Catholic Family News and CatholicVote.org.
