Abortion Prohibition and Fascism

Abortion Prohibition and Fascism

~~ recommended by drmorista ~~

Introduction by dmorista:

Maps and Figures:

 

Introduction:   There is a distinct trend towards authoritarian / fascist rule in the U.S. centered in the benighted Red States.  While no state in the U.S. has yet been subjected to a full-blown fascist regime several, most notably Texas and Florida, are getting perilously close to such a lamentable state.  In placing the Swastikas in Map 1 (here denoting states that are mostly in an incipient stage of early fascist takeover) I considered three criteria.  They are 1). attempts to regulate travel by women; this is of course centered (for the moment) on attempts by women to travel from Red States with extremely restrictive abortion laws to somewhere (mostly Blue States), that still maintain abortion access.  The next major category 2). is places where serious dialogue (usually in the State Legislatures) has taken place to charge women or physicians or any other people who assist them, with murder for cases in which women have had abortions (generally taking place elsewhere, but this also includes chemical abortion for which the pills have been shipped in from a Blue State).  Since the Red States generally have, and enthusiastically use, execution as a punishment for murder convictions; this most emphatically includes threats to execute women who have obtained an abortion and who live in some criminally backward Red State.  Finally for  number three, 3). I included Georgia, because of the recent RICO indictments against some 61 Cop City protesters.  These indictments included numerous felony charges for constitutionally protected actions taken by the 61 defendants.  Ironically, the same Grand Jury that indicted Donald Trump to be prosecuted by Fanni Willis, returned a “true bill” for prosecuting the Cop City protesters.  This is basically just Harsh and Inappropriate use of Police and the Courts to Repress Opposition Forces.

1).  Prohibiting Women from Traveling:

Jessica Valenti, at Abortion Everyday has kept track of these developments, particularly as regards moves to stop women from traveling.  I have included 6 excerpts from her substack posts that address that issue below.  As regards travel to obtain an abortion, or other reproductive health care, about 63 million American Women live in Red States without access to quality abortion or reproductive health care.  They must either travel or obtain mifepistone and misoprostol pills for a medication abortion.  In many terrible cases women who are pregnant and have problems or who have other health problems are prohibited from obtaining the needed care in their various backward Red States.  The  Attorney general of Alabama, Steve Marshall, has been particularly aggressive about women traveling, saying that anyone who assists a woman obtain an abortion in any way is guilty of a Criminal Conspiracy and will be prosecuted; furthermore he stated that the State of Alabama has the legal power to preemptively block women from traveling.  I did not choose to denote several marginal states with a swastika, notable South Dakota that authorized vigilante motorists to run down and kill protesters on state highways near the Dakota Access protests a few years ago.  The U.S. increasingly resembles Weimar Germany with the large numbers of heavily armed paramilitaries and the new wrinkle (so typical of the U.S.’ Capital Regime) of “bounty hunters and civil vigilantes”, specifically authorized by law to financially attack the opposition.  

In Texas there has been a massive effort to recruit towns, cities, and counties to pass their own laws criminalizing passing through on the way to obtain an abortion, calling it “Abortion Trafficking”.  Map 2 shows how some counties and towns in Texas have been recruited, or are being wooed, to join in a “Sanctuary Cities (and Counties) for the Unborn” movement. Goliad County, in Southeast Texas, about 90 miles southeast of San Antonio, recently passed an “Abortion Trafficking” law.  While Goliad is, at this point, basically irrelevant, that could easily change.  Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled recently that the States in Mexico could pass their own regulations of abortion.  Previously most of Mexico had draconian laws with harsh penalties, while Mexico City had very permissive laws.  There is a long tradition of Texans going to Mexican Border areas to obtain goods and services not available in Texas, Abortion Clinics will certainly proliferate along the Texas / Mexico border, and many women will pass through places like Goliad on their way from the major Texas Urban areas to Mexican clinics.   

In West Texas, Mitchell County recently joined up with the attempt to prevent women from traveling out of state.  It sits right along Interstate 20, which is a main route for women driving from the Dallas - Fort Worth area to abortion clinics in New Mexico.  A bit farther on Odessa, in the Midland-Odessa metropolitan area (population around 380,000), is considering an “Abortion Trafficking” law.  They clearly have far more resources to harass and intimidate women driving along I-20 than does thinly populated Mitchell County, with a current population estimated at 8,940.  Midland-Odessa, where Bush the Younger grew up, was considered to be the most right-wing urban area in the U.S. back in those years.  It certainly has not become any liberal bastion in the years since.  The town of Waskum Texas, in Harrison County joined with the attempt to criminalize and prohibit abortion several years ago, it sits along I-20 there are certainly some women traveling along that route to the Southern States that still have clinics that perform abortions.  North Carolina still allows abortion through 12 weeks & 6 days, and Florida still allows abortion through 15 weeks & 6 days.  These are both temporary situations that will eventually change after the legal battles are resolved.  Georgia and South Carolina both allow abortions through 6 weeks and 6 days, again legal proceedings are ongoing.  

Finally the operatives for Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn have been working to try to convince cities and counties in New Mexico to pass laws criminalizing abortion and other reproductive health care services.  They did manage to convince the county that neighbors Lea County, N.M. to the north, namely Roosevelt County N.M., to make abortion a crime in that county.  However New Mexico’s state constitution prohibits counties from passing laws that are in opposition to state law and the state constitution so the struggles of the Forced-Birth activists will have to plow new ground to succeed in denying Texas Women the opportunity to access Abortions in New Mexico clinics.  Ominously Texas Governor Greg Abbot has threatened to build “border barriers” between the Texas and New Mexico.  Whether or not they will feature sharp blades and razor wire, or some other weaponry, designed to terribly injure women who pass by the threatened barriers is not clear at this time.  (See, “GregAbbott_TX says that he's looking at building "border barriers" between Texas and New Mexico. Yes, you read that right.”,  American Bridge 21st Century@American_Bridge                    at < https://twitter.com/American_Bridge/status/1707492415299256392 >)

Both Llano, Texas, and Chandler, Texas are still considering passing laws making passing through to obtain an abortion a crime.  Chandler, is about 100 miles east of Dallas and Llano is about 90 miles Northwest of Austin.  Chandler has significant shoreline on Lake Palestine; while Llano has some nice riverfront areas.  Both of these towns’ business people might be worried about offending the more liberal and pro-choice visitors from their nearby urban centers, by passing mostly symbolic laws to harass women traveling to obtain abortions.  As Map 3 shows two major highway routes, that go from Austin towards New Mexico, and connect with further routes to that state, pass through Llano (Highways TX-71 and TX-29).  The shop and hospitality business owners are, no doubt, loath to endorse any laws that will antagonize urban visitors; regardless of how they personally might feel about the issue.

2). Charging Women who obtain Abortions, and those who Assist them, with Murder; with the Death Penalty a Possible Result:

Charging women with murder for obtaining an abortion has been seriously proposed in the legislatures of Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia and Alabama.  All these states have, and frequently use, the death penalty for homicide and there were no exceptions for abortions in the proposed legislation in any of these places.  Women can and, if the current developments continue, will certainly be executed for obtaining an abortion while a resident of one of these retrograde places.  The bill introduced in South Carolina this year had 23 sponsors and co-sponsors, though a couple later withdrew their support.  While in the end it did not pass, in March of this year: “ Members of the South Carolina State House are considering a bill that would make a woman who has an abortion in the state eligible for the death penalty. 

“The “South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023” would amend the state’s code of laws, redefining ‘person’ to include a fertilized egg at the point of conception, affording that zygote ‘equal protection under the homicide laws of the state’ — up to and including the ultimate punishment: death.”  (Emphasis added) 

(See, “21 South Carolina GOP Lawmakers Propose Death Penalty for Women Who Have Abortions: It’s not just a lone extremist: The bill has 21 co-sponsors in the state’s House of Representatives.”, March 13, 2023, Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone, at <https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/south-carolina-death-penalty-abortion-1234695566/>)  

Texas, in 2019, had a serious attempt to pass a bill that would have specifically mandated execution for women to obtain abortions.  And this was before the Dobbs ruling issued by the Discredited Partisan Hack U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.  This is nothing new, other than that Roe has now been overturned.  In Texas a reactionary forced-birth advocate in the State House introduced a law, first in 2017 and then again in 2019 that: “.... would criminalize all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and would make it possible to charge a woman with homicide for having the procedure, according to the Washington Post. The state of Texas allows capital punishment for homicide.

“Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican state legislator who introduced the bill, says it would make people ‘consider the repercussions’ of having sex.  (Emphasis added)

“ ‘My bill simply accomplishes one goal,’ Tinderholt said in a statement to media on Wednesday. ‘It brings equal treatment for unborn human beings under the law.’ ”

And that was not the end of such vicious legislation and Tinderholt is not the only reactionary forced-birth advocate in the Texas Legislature.  In 2021: “A Texas lawmaker has filed a bill that would abolish and criminalize abortions, leaving women and physicians who perform the procedure to face criminal charges that could carry the death penalty.  (Emphasis added)

“The legislation, filed Tuesday by state Rep. Bryan Slaton, does not include exceptions for rape or incest. It does exempt ectopic pregnancies that seriously threaten the life of the woman ‘when a reasonable alternative to save the lives of both the mother and the unborn child is unavailable.’

“ ‘It is time for Texas to protect the natural right to life for the tiniest and most innocent Texans, and this bill does just that,’ Slaton said. ‘It’s time Republicans make it clear that we actually think abortion is murder. … Unborn children are dying at a faster rate in Texas than COVID patients, but Texas isn’t taking the abortion crisis seriously.’ ” (Emphasis added)

An article about various states notes that: “The bills being introduced in Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and South Carolina look to establish that life begins at conception. Each of these bills explicitly references homicide charges for abortion. Homicide is punishable by the death penalty in all of those states.  (Emphasis added)

“Bills in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas also explicitly target medication abortion, which so far has fallen into a legal grey zone in much of the country.  (Emphasis added)

“A bill in Alabama has also been announced, although not yet been introduced, by Republican representative Ernest Yarbrough, that would establish fetal personhood from conception and repeal a section of Alabama’s abortion ban that expressly prevents homicide charges for abortion. The state’s current law makes abortion a class A felony, on the same level as homicide, but exempts women seeking abortions from being held criminally or civilly liable.” 

From Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico told Rolling Stone that:  “The Democratic Party is the only thing standing between this country and fascism,” Talarico said on stage in Dallas. ‘Yet the best our national party leaders can muster is spineless talking points and soulless fundraising emails.’ 

“Talarico, who flipped a Republican district outside of Austin in 2018, urged Democratic leaders to take bolder action to protect reproductive rights, including by declaring a public health emergency, leasing federal property to abortion providers, and impeaching justices who lied under oath.

“At a minimum, Talarico says, the Democratic Party needs to name the threat it is currently facing. ‘Restricting a citizen’s ability to travel freely throughout the United States is authoritarianism, it is fascism. We’re not talking about tax policy. We’re not talking about budget size. We’re talking about fundamental freedoms: the freedom to choose, to vote, freedom to marry, freedom to learn, freedom to teach, freedom to travel — these are foundational freedoms that are at stake. This is not a conservative view of a budget versus a progressive view of budget — we’re way beyond that.’ ”  (Emphasis added)

 (See, “21 South Carolina GOP Lawmakers Propose Death Penalty for Women Who Have Abortions: It’s not just a lone extremist: The bill has 21 co-sponsors in the state’s House of Representatives”, March 13, 2023, Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone, at < https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/south-carolina-death-penalty-abortion-1234695566/ >: “A Texas bill would allow the death penalty for patients who get abortions: The bill is unlikely to pass, but it’s part of a larger trend”, Apr 11, 2019, Anna North, Vox, at <https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/11/18304825/abortion-texas-tony-tinderholt-death-penalty-bill>: “Another Texas GOP lawmaker is attempting to make abortion punishable by the death penalty: Similar bills filed in the Texas Legislature in previous years have failed”, Mar 9, 2021, Shannon Najmabadi, The Texas Tribune, at <https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/09/texas-legislature-abortion-criminalize-death-penalty/>: “Republicans push wave of bills that would bring homicide charges for abortion: Proliferation of bills in Texas, Kentucky and elsewhere ‘exposes fundamental lie of anti-abortion movement’, experts say”, Mar 10, 2023, Poppy Noor, The Guardian, at <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/10/republican-wave-state-bills-homicide-charges >: “Republicans Took a Woman’s Right to Choose. Now They’re Threatening Her Right to Travel: In Washington, Republicans say it's ridiculous to accuse the GOP of trying to prevent women from traveling to access abortion care. In Texas, that project is already underway”, July 20, 2022, Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone, at <https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/abortion-travel-restrictions-texas-republicans-1385437/>)

3).  Harsh and Inappropriate Use of the Legal System and Police

There is not too much more to say here other than that Georgia, which is one of the states where the progressive people have actually won important elections (defeating Republicans for both Senate Seats, a major change in a Deep Red Southern State), nonetheless has a state government still largely controlled by right-wing forces.  The Indictment of the 61 Cop City Protesters for absurd charges that accuse them of activities clearly protected by the Constitution (Article 1 in particular) was an indication of how deep and ruthless the old ruling class in Georgia is.  South Dakota’s law from years ago encouraging right-wing motorists to run down and kill protesters (during the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests) is another sure sign of fascist intent and murderous reasoning on the part of the State Legislature there.  We might note that Minnesota authorities, at least on the local level, cooperated closely with Enbridge Pipeline Corporation in a repression campaign against Water Protector protests.  This is not a tendency that is totally restricted to Republican controlled Red States, though it is clearly more severe in those places.

4).  Recent Developments Amplifying State Control of Women’s Reproductive Affairs:

The simple fact is that the right-wing operatives who brought us some of the current restrictions and nightmarish situations for women are still trying to make things even worse.  This was demonstrated just a few days ago when a massive demand for information from OB-GYNS and other reproductive and abortion care providers was filed by none other than: “ …. Jonathan Mitchell, the former Texas solicitor general who is credited with coming up with the novel legal strategy that undergirds the Texas six-week abortion ban  ….  

“The attorney and architect of the Texas six-week abortion ban has asked several Texas abortion funds to hand over information about every abortion that they have ‘assisted or facilitated in any way’ over the last two years, including details about the abortion provider, the city and state where the abortion patient lived, as well as the identity of every person – other than the patient themselves and their family members – who may have helped the patient get the abortion. 

“These requests were made earlier this month as part of an ongoing lawsuit over Texas abortion restrictions. They also asked for information about every person who the funds may have worked with, including volunteers and donors, according to court documents. Furthermore, the requests asked the funds to supply details about the type of abortions they supported as well as when and where those abortions occurred.   ….

“The requests also ask for information about the Texas counties through which an abortion patient may have traveled to get the abortion. Recently, Mitchell has been helping pioneer a strategy to pass local ordinances that would make it illegal to transport someone along a city or county’s road for an abortion.”  (See, “Texas lawyer asks abortion funds for details of every procedure since 2021”, Sep 28, 2023, Carter Sherman, The Guardian, at <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/28/texas-lawyer-abortion-ban-procedure-patient-information>).

5).  The U.S. in World Context

The U.S. has now, in part, sunk to the level of places like Iraq, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, and Madagascar by effectively prohibiting women in the Red States from obtaining abortions or other needed reproductive health care services.  We might note here that Iraq was massively militarily attacked twice by the U.S. in the past 20+ years, that El Salvador was the location of a horrific Death Squad Campaign that lasted over 10 years, that Nicaragua was attacked by U.S. supported Counter Revolutionary murderers for several years after the Sandinista victory over the Somoza forces, and that Honduras and Haiti have both been kept under the thumb of reactionary rulers with significant U.S. help to the tyrants and oligarchs who extract wealth from those two devastated societies.  So the terrible policies on female reproductive freedom are actually far more loathsome in the U.S., that has not undergone anything like the horrors that Iraq, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Haiti have suffered through, than they are in those five poor and devastated places. 

Map 4 shows that the U.S. and Mexico fall into a special category in which there is no national law regulating abortion access and instead the states make their own laws.  In Mexico, we might add, the states of that country are mostly moving towards making abortion more accessible in contrast to the situation in the U.S.  And Map 5 shows that the U.S. has joined, in large part, the 22 nations with 111 million women of reproductive age, that still languish under total prohibition of abortion.  And finally Figure 1 shows that among the nations of the Earth only 4 have moved towards making Abortion less accessible and less safe, punishing the women in their populations with horrific situations. These four are El Salvador, Nicaragua, Poland, and sadly The United States with the horrors found exclusively in Republican run Red States.

1).  Excerpt from: “The Week in Abortion, 9.25.23 - 9.29.23, Sept 30, 2023, Jessica Valenti, Abortion Everyday, at < https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-week-in-abortion-1d3#details > 

Anti-Abortion Strategy: Terrorizing Americans

If there was a theme for anti-abortion organizing and action this week, it would be terror. These groups and lawmakers just want to absolutely terrify and terrorize Americans, at any cost, to stop abortion. And over the last few days, nearly all of it came out of Texas.

To start, yet another county in the state is considering passing an anti-abortion ‘trafficking’ ordinance that would criminalize driving from or through the town on the way to out-of-state abortion care. Cochran County would join Mitchell and Goliad counties, which passed similar ordinances. Wendy Davis, advisor at Planned Parenthood Texas Votes and a former state senator, says, “This is an effort, one by one by one, to create a statewide ban against travel to other states, literally creating a reproductive prison in the state of Texas.”

In very much related news, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he’s looking at building “border barriers” in between the state and New Mexico. As a reminder: 57% of the patients at Planned Parenthood New Mexico are from Texas.

Meanwhile, Texas lawyer Jonathan Mitchell—architect of the state’s bounty hunter mandate—is seeking the names of every employee, donor and patient of abortion funds in the state. That’s thousands of people. The idea is to find people to sue: As you know, Texas law allows anyone in the state bring a civil lawsuit against those who help someone obtain an abortion.

In response, the abortion funds have filed a motion to get a protective order. Anna Rupani, Executive Director, Fund Texas Choice, said, “This desire to obtain private, confidential information is meant to harass and intimidate, but rest assured, we will not stand for it.”

And that’s the rub: This is all about harassing and terrorizing communities. Anti-abortion groups and politicians want to make people too afraid to help each other: too afraid to lend someone money for an abortion, too afraid to drive someone out-of-state, and too afraid to even give someone a url or phone number of where they can get help. It’s a nightmare. But it’s also completely transparent, and makes evident who these people really are.

2).  Excerpt from: “Abortion, Every Day (9.28.23)”, September 28, 2023, Jessica Valenti, Abortion Everyday at < https://jessica.substack.com/p/abortion-every-day-92823 >

In-State Confinement

Another Texas county is considering an ordinance banning out-of-state abortion travel. Cochran County would join Mitchell and Goliad counties, which prohibit driving through or from the towns to leave the state for care.

As you know, this is part of a broader effort by anti-abortion groups to restrict travel, make it harder for women to leave the state, and to make people downright terrified that getting a legal abortion will somehow get them arrested. Wendy Davis, advisorf at Planned Parenthood Texas Votes and a former state senator, says, “This is an effort, one by one by one, to create a statewide ban against travel to other states, literally creating a reproductive prison in the state of Texas.”

It’s also not a coincidence that Cochran County borders New Mexico, a pro-choice state where 57% of Planned Parenthood patients are from Texas alone.

Mark Lee Dickson, the anti-abortion activist at the center of the strategy to pass local ordinances, told the Texas Tribune that “the abortion trafficking ordinances do not interfere with the right to travel.” Which is quite a statement considering that that is the entire fucking point.

3).  Excerpt from: “The Week in Abortion, 9.4.23 - 9.8.23”, Sept 9, 2023, Jessica Valenti, Abortion Everyday, at  <https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-week-in-abortion-96d#%C2%A7in-state-detention> 

In-State Detention

The kind of massive out-of-state travel we’re seeing from Idaho and other anti-choice states is why conservatives are so eager to restrict women’s right to travel. (For a recap on Republican moves to detain pregnant people within their states, click here.) A new study from the Guttmacher Institute this week, for example, showed huge upticks in the number of abortions performed in border states—with the biggest increases in states like Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina and Florida.

Conservatives know that people are getting abortions regardless of the state law—whether it’s by ordering abortion medication online or traveling to another state—and they’re desperate to stop it. But because of the negative press following the news from Alabama and Texas, Republicans are remaining pretty mum about their in-state detention strategy. So a couple of things to watch out for in the coming months:

• Language using the term ‘tourism’, like this column at The American Conservative that mentions “interstate abortion tourism.” The term, which I first flagged in July, is meant to make traveling for abortion care seem as nefarious as possible—Republicans want to make it seem as if pro-choice states are making tons of money trying to bring in abortion patients. It’s also incredible dismissive, as if having to leave your home and travel hundreds of mile for healthcare is a sightseeing trip.

• Increasing restrictions on minors, like the ‘trafficking’ law in Idaho. When Republicans introduced the law, calling it a simple piece of ‘parental rights’ legislation, I warned (for months!) that they would never stop at teenagers. As is so often the case, minors are the canaries in the coal mine. So be on the lookout for Idaho-type trafficking laws targeting young people, and other kinds of chipping-away policies on the right to travel.

4).  Excerpt from: “The Week in Abortion, 8.28.23 - 9.1.23”, Sept 2, 2023, Jessica Valenti, Abortion Everyday, at <https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-week-in-abortion-f86#%C2%A7the-war-on-abortion-travel> 

The War on Abortion Travel

Since Roe was overturned, the abortion rate has gone down—but not by nearly as much as the anti-abortion movement would like. Americans in anti-choice states are still able to have abortion medication mailed to them, and women are frequently traveling to pro-choice states for care. Republicans want to end all that. 

Their plan to stymie access to abortion pills is already well underway, but stopping people from getting out-of-state abortions is not so easy. Conservative lawmakers and anti-abortion organizations can’t say outright that they want to prevent women from traveling—plus they have that pesky Constitution to deal with. And so they’re relying on the same chipping away approach that they used to limit abortion (and now birth control).

What started in earnest with the anti-abortion ‘trafficking’ law in Idaho—which prohibits taking a minor out-of-state for abortion care—is now making its way to Alabama and Texas.

In Texas, small towns are passing ordinances that make it illegal to transport anyone out-of-state for an abortion, labeling it as—you guessed it!—‘trafficking’. Driving a friend from or through one of these towns in order to get care outside of Texas opens a person up to civil suits—something that’s become a hallmark of Texas abortion bans. As I’ve written previously, you don’t have to ban travel outright if you simply make people too afraid to lend a friend gas money to get out of the state. The point is too instill fear.

It’s just as bleak in Alabama, where abortion providers and funds are suing Attorney General Steve Marshall to ensure that he can’t charge them for helping patients get out-of-state care. (The suit is a response to a radio interview Marshall gave where he said volunteers who helped a Louisiana woman travel out-of-state for an abortion would face “conspiracy” and “accessory” charges in Alabama.) In a motion to dismiss the case this Monday, Marshall not only argued that it’s illegal to help someone leave the state for abortion care—but that the state could also legally restrict a woman’s right to travel for abortion.

I don’t know why I haven’t seen one other publication cover this, but it sure seems important! Essentially, Marshall argues that because it’s not unreasonable to require a sex offender to tell law enforcement when they change residences, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to enact the same kind of restrictions on someone leaving the state for abortion care. Yes, seriously.

I have more details in this Twitter thread and in yesterday’s column (below), but it’s vital that we’re paying attention to every single thing these maniacs say and write—because they’re consistently giving up the game.

5).  Excerpt from: “Abortion, Every Day (8.31.23)”, Aug 31, 2023, Jessica Valenti, Abortion Everyday,    at < https://jessica.substack.com/p/abortion-every-day-83123#details > 

In the States

Republicans want to make it illegal for women to leave the state for abortion care—and I’m tired of people claiming that saying so is hyperbole. Let’s just look at what’s happened this week in abortion travel issues. Since July, I’ve been telling you about the case against Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who is being sued by the ACLU, abortion providers and the Yellowhammer Fund. The suit is a response to a radio interview Marshall gave where he said volunteers who helped a Louisiana woman travel out-of-state for an abortion would face “conspiracy” and “accessory” charges in Alabama. The groups are seeking a ruling that makes clear that the state can’t prosecute anyone who provides referrals or other help to people getting out-of-state abortions.

Marshall is fighting back against the suit by arguing very plainly that helping anyone to travel out-of-state for an abortion is a “criminal conspiracy” not protected by free speech. From Marshall’s motion to dismiss:

“[I]t is well settled that speech used to conduct a crime receives no constitutional protection; the same is true for the right to associate…Likewise, the right to travel, to the extent that it is even implicated, does not grant Plaintiffs the right to carry out a criminal conspiracy simply because they propose to do so by purchasing bus passes or driving cars.”

And while Marshall claims that “there’s nothing about that law that restricts any individual from driving across state lines and seeking an abortion in another place,” he’s arguing that anyone who helps someone to do so is a criminal! What constitutes aiding and abetting travel? Lending someone your car? Giving them gas money? Changing their flat tire? It’s absurdity and it’s terrifying.

I’m not done talking about criminalizing travel yet: A county in Texas has passed an anti-abortion ordinance that makes it illegal to drive anyone from or through the county in order to get a legal abortion in another state. To do so would be “abortion trafficking.” Like so many Texas abortion laws, citizens could take civil action against anyone found in violation of the ordinance.

If you’re a regular reader, you know that this is part of a broader anti-choice tactic meant to create legal challenges that conservative lawyers like Jonathan Mitchell—architect of Texas’ bounty hunter law—hope to bring all the way up to the Supreme Court. (Grace wrote about this strategy & its connection to the Comstock Act yesterday.)

The point is: they are already coming after out-of-state travel. And like everything else they do, it won’t be a singular law banning women from leaving the state—it will be this slow chipping away process that’s already in effect.