Texas’ far-right political movement is on the rise, now wanting to introduce death penalty for abortion patients

By Charlie Sawyer

Published May 31, 2024 at 11:55 AM

Reading time: 1 minute

58362

New proposals put forward during the recent Texas GOP convention indicate that Republican politicians are open to applying the death penalty to abortion providers. The Southern state’s Republican 2024 party platform emphatically states that “abortion is not healthcare, it is homicide.” And it’s becoming glaringly obvious that these politicians are not afraid of going to extreme lengths to enforce this ideology.

According to The Guardian, the Texas GOP’s proposals also call for “legislation to abolish abortion by immediately securing the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilisation.”

While mainstream pro-life activists typically don’t endorse the concept of punishing people who seek out abortions, more hard-line conservatives have indicated that if abortion is homicide, the patient who seeks out that treatment should then be punished accordingly.

The 2024 platform also proposed introducing legislation that would solidify foetal personhood ideology into law and criminalise in vitro fertilisation, as reported by HuffPost.

The 50-page document also included a barrage of other far-right ideas that represent a growing movement of Christian Nationalism within Texas. These included notions such as proclaiming that gender-affirming care is “child abuse,” requirements that Christianity and the Bible be taught in public schools, and emphasising that Texas “retains the right to secede from the United States.”

Texas is one of the most restrictive states in the US when it comes to abortion. In 2021, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 8, a law that bans abortion as early as six weeks in pregnancy. Moreover, the bill, more commonly referred to as the Texas Heartbeat Act, also authorised members of the public to sue anyone who performs or facilitates an illegal abortion for a minimum of $10,000.

Speaking about the highly controversial 2024 party platform, Farah Diaz-Tello, senior counsel and legal director at Lawyering for Reproductive Justice: If/When/How, told HuffPost “If a foetus is considered a person, then it’s considered a child, which is a vulnerable population. … Homicide of identified vulnerable persons escalates penalties.”

The expert continued: “I wish I could say that the idea of the death penalty is a jump, but it’s not. It’s actually the next logical step.” Indeed, the anti-abortion movement in Texas has been gaining a lot of traction since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

According to Newsweek, votes have been made and tallies regarding whether or not the party proposals will be adopted will be announced later this week.

Keep On Reading

By Alma Fabiani

In Texas, reporting ‘illegal’ abortions is now rewarded with a $10,000 bounty

By Malavika Pradeep

Dating app OkCupid lets users filter matches based on their support for abortion rights

By Eliza Frost

Netflix is predicting your next favourite show based on your zodiac sign 

By Charlie Sawyer

Another female influencer has been punched in the head in New York. Is it the same attacker?

By Eliza Frost

Are you in Group 7? Explaining the latest viral TikTok trend

By Eliza Frost

Why isn’t Sylvanian Drama posting on TikTok? Here’s the legal tea

By Eliza Frost

Jessie Cave was banned from a Harry Potter fan convention because of her OnlyFans account

By Charlie Sawyer

SHEIN faces fines from EU for deceiving customers with fake discounts and misleading information

By Eliza Frost

Why do people want a nose like the Grinch? The Whoville TikTok trend explained

By Charlie Sawyer

The #MeToo movement is at risk. How the Harvey Weinstein retrial risks doing unimaginable damage 

By Charlie Sawyer

Father of former Harry Potter star gives serious warning to the new child stars in HBO Max reboot

By Charlie Sawyer

Former Harry Potter star tells reporters he doesn’t understand JK Rowling’s Twitter transphobia

By Eliza Frost

American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney face backlash with employee’s LinkedIn post adding fuel to the fire

By Alma Fabiani

Amazon Music is giving away 4 months free. Here’s how to claim it

By Eliza Frost

Is the princess treatment TikTok trend the bare minimum or a relationship red flag?

By Eliza Frost

People think Donald Trump is dead and they’re using the Pentagon Pizza Index to prove it

By Charlie Sawyer

Johnny Depp plays the victim once more and anoints himself crash test dummy for #MeToo

By Eliza Frost

Why is everyone saying ‘Six-Seven’? The meaning behind the viral phrase

By Charlie Sawyer

Yung Filly’s legal troubles mount as the rapper faces two new sexual assault charges in Australia

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty stars Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno caught in political drama