What a novel idea…
Tell the cops NOT to handle abortion cases?
Might be a nice try…
But?
I would guess the Texas Dept. of Public Safety WILL be directed to be on the case there…
Or?
The State would try to go after the Austin City lawmakers?
Yet?
Could this be a ‘inside’ way for Democrats in Red states to respond to High Courts upcoming effort to throw abortion rules to the states…
The state’s so-called trigger law, which would take effect 30 days after a Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe, includes the nation’s harshest criminal penalties on abortion and language vague enough that abortion-rights proponents believe it will not only be used to go after abortion providers but also criminalize people who end their own pregnancies with abortion pills. Last month, 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera was arrested and charged with murder in Rio Grande City, Texas after allegedly self-inducing an abortion, even though abortion is not currently a criminal offense in Texas.
The trigger law will make performing, inducing or attempting an abortion where “an unborn child dies as a result of the offense” a first-degree felony, punishable by up to life in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. It contains an exception only to save the life of the pregnant person.
The new resolution doesn’t explicitly decriminalize abortion but rather directs police to make it their lowest enforcement priority in an effort to skirt conflict with state law, Vela said. But it highlights the tension between red state and the blue cities, where a new front in the battle over abortion rights is opening as the Supreme Court prepares to issue a decision on Roe in the coming weeks.
A city of Austin spokesperson said in a statement that “the city is prepared to take the steps necessary to implement this resolution upon passage by City Council.” The council passed a similar measure in 2020 that effectively decriminalized marijuana by ending arrests and fines for low-level possession, which the police department has followed…
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“The police do not want to be in the middle of this controversy. The police right now in Austin are struggling with staffing,” Vela said. “I don’t think the police want to dedicate resources to these types of, what I would call, ‘political crimes.’”
A spokesperson for state Attorney General Ken Paxton did not respond to a request for comment. Paxton, a Republican, has been at the vanguard of restricting abortion access in Texas, which has been in the spotlight since the state’s six-week abortion ban, enforced through a private right of action, took effect in September 2021….
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Local officials who support abortion rights in states where access is in jeopardy may also have an important role to play, said Greer Donley, a professor specializing in reproductive health care at the University of Pittsburgh Law School.