Fascist Idiocracy In Texas And The New Bounty Hunter Industry (Part 2)
Greg Abbott is creating a lucrative industry for wannabe bounty hunters in Texas. Their target? Pregnant women.
This article is part of our in depth series on Texas’s new abortion law. Part one of Bob’s series can be read here:
Bob Cesca: Texas Abortion Ban And The Rise Of Lawsuit Bounty Hunters
Justin Rosario’s piece on why Republicans will use the new law in ways we have barely begun to think about can be read here:
The Texas Abortion Law Is A Blueprint For Republican Tyranny
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by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC -- When asked about the new Texas abortion ban’s lack of exceptions for rape and incest, Greg Abbott, with a completely straight face, explained that his solution for this problem will be to rid “the streets” of rapists.
Clearly, Abbott seems to have this idea in his walnut brain that rapists are like characters out of a Playboy cartoon from the 1960s or a Benny Hill skit: drooling old men in boots and trench coats lurking in alleys waiting to spring out of the shadows to rape unsuspecting women in the streets. Or maybe he’s thinking of horny cartoon skunks. Who the hell knows? But if it’s Abbott’s mission to rid “the streets” of rapists, he’ll only reduce rapes by around 19 percent, given the numbers -- and that’s if he nabs every single anonymous rapist before the assaults are committed.
The truth is, most rapists are people women know. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the vast majority of rapes -- eight out of 10 -- are perpetrated by people women know already. 39 percent are acquaintances, 33 percent are current or former spouses or boyfriends, and 2.5 percent are relatives. Only 19 percent are strangers. Besides, it’s unclear how the hell Abbott will weed out the rapists before they commit rape.
Worse, Abbott’s record on preventing rape has been dismal so far, at least according to the numbers we have to date. Since Abbott was inaugurated in early 2015, the number of rapes per year in Texas has climbed from around 9,000 in 2015 to nearly 15,000 in 2019.
If only he had rolled out this secret plan to end rape on day one of his administration. He could’ve prevented 63,257 Texas rapes on his watch (minus 2020 and 2021) before they happened.
But the great irony of Abbott’s rape remark is that his anti-woman law will create an entire industry of stalkers and bounty hunters -- literally pursuing pregnant women in the streets.
While we’re all familiar with the bounty aspect of the law, there’s an unforeseen downside that the Texas Republicans haven’t fully grasped. The logistics of creating a financial incentive for rank-and-file citizens to pursue women and, by proxy, their doctors or anyone aiding and abetting the (still constitutional) medical procedure, will create an entire industry of private dicks. But it won’t be limited to just women who’ve had abortions after six weeks.
I'm afraid every pregnant Texan, regardless of party, race, or religion, will be monitored, stalked, and potentially doxxed by cash-motivated bounty hunters, just in case the women decide to try for an abortion. And not just the women directly seeking abortions, but all pregnant women.
Think about it. In order to get to the targets of the lawsuits -- the accomplices, so to speak -- how does one successfully track down a woman who’s had an abortion? How will they know?
Either the bounty hunters, amateur or pro, will have to make contact with informants in the clinics or elsewhere (in violation of HIPAA), or they’ll have to seek out pregnant women, perhaps outside OB/GYN offices, hospitals, or pharmacies, and stalk them until perchance they seek out abortion services somewhere in violation of Texas law. But pregnant women don’t wear sandwich boards announcing they’re considering an abortion, so that means most pregnant women -- Republican pregnant women, Democratic pregnant women, white wealthy pregnant women -- will have to be followed until they either give birth or have an abortion.
It may not go down exactly like this, but Abbott and his Red Hat lieutenants surely manufactured the possibility that every pregnant Texan will have a price tag floating over her head. After all, pregnancy means the potential for big cash payments in Texas now -- for bounty hunters and disreputable lawyers, too, by the way.
There could easily be networks of stalkers, coordinating their surveillance operations, as well as small businesses parked in mini-mall storefronts, dedicated to pursuing as many violators as possible. There aren’t any ethical guidelines or laws for how this new breed of bounty hunters should operate, so they’ll go as low as the law will allow (or lower) in pursuit of the money at the end of the rainbow. What do they have to lose?
No matter how this plays out, pregnant women are targets. If the pursuit leads a stalker to a clinic offering illegal abortions, bingo -- free cash with no strings or downside. This is a recipe for a different kind of rape. Abbott and the Republicans have created a citizen-run surveillance state, violating the medical privacy of countless women, the vast majority of whom will be innocent of breaking any laws.
This is fascist idiocracy on the march, and Texas won’t be the only state. Florida’s next and the time to fight back is now.
And maybe Greg Abbott should try putting $10,000 bounties on rapists.
REMINDER: This article is part of our in depth series on Texas’s new abortion law. Part one of Bob’s series can be read here:
Bob Cesca: Texas Abortion Ban And The Rise Of Lawsuit Bounty Hunters -Texas just passed the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation. But it’s far worse than any ordinary ban.
Justin Rosario’s piece can be read here:
Justin Rosario: The Texas Abortion Law Is A Blueprint For Republican Tyranny - This law will allow Republicans to reshape America in their image in every conceivable detail.
You can try a Banter Membership free for 6 months by following the link here:
"The truth is, most rapists are people women know. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the vast majority of rapes -- eight out of 10 -- are perpetrated by people women know already. 39 percent are acquaintances, 33 percent are current or former spouses or boyfriends, and 2.5 percent are relatives. Only 19 percent are strangers. Besides, it’s unclear how the hell Abbott will weed out the rapists before they commit rape."
Oh Bob, you silly man! Dontcha know, when Greg Abbott talks about cleaning the streets of Texas from rapists, he's talking about African American males and other males of color. Because in that pea sized brain of his, male POCs are genetically dispositioned to rape, while white American males are programmed NOT TO! He's basically killing two birds with one stone, which are women and people of color.
But apparently, WE'RE the racist misogynists and they aren't. Go fig!