Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
Last week, the board of commissioners in Cochran County, a county of 2,500 people that borders New Mexico, adopted an ordinance banning people from traveling on its local roads to get an abortion, the Texas Tribune reports.
County Commissioner Eric Silhan, who introduced the measure, said it allows the all-male board to stand for "the people who can't speak for themselves."
Cochran's ordinance only applies to people driving someone seeking an abortion. Like the controversial six-week abortion ban approved in 2021 by the Texas Legislature, it doesn't apply to the abortion seeker, and it would be enforced through private civil suits, the Tribune reports.
At least two other Texas counties have banned people from traveling their roads to seek abortions, according to the Tribune. However, Cochran County appears to be the first actually bordering a state where abortion is legal — in this case, New Mexico.
If it sounds like these measures are legally indefensible, count yourself on the side of law scholars and abortion-rights groups, who say they're blatantly unconstitutional.
But, like much of what the American right forces down our throats these days, that's not the point. The rationale behind the bans is to sow confusion and fear, potentially deterring people from seeking abortions in states where they're legal.
"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," Wendy Davis, a former state senator who's now a senior adviser at Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, told the Tribune.
To be sure, the travel bans aren't popping up organically but being pushed by outside political operatives and conservative members of the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature, according to media reports.
Mark Lee Dickson — an anti-abortion activist who's convinced dozens of Texas counties to adopt "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinances — was key in lobbying for Cochran County's travel ban, according to the Tribune. What's more, Dickson and his cronies have been circulating a letter signed by 20 Texas lawmakers requesting counties adopt his proposed ban, the news site also reports.
Look out. There's no reason to expect Dickson and his fellow assclowns are going to stop at three counties.
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed
