Road Warriors

“For well over an hour, the people of Llano — a town of about 3,400 deep in Texas Hill Country — approached the podium to speak out against abortion. While the procedure was now illegal across Texas, people were still driving women on Llano roads to reach abortion clinics in other states, the residents had been told. They said their city had a responsibility to ‘fight the murders.'” Welcome to the frontlines of America’s abortion wars. The voices in Llano probably sound extreme to you, and they are. But they’re part of an ongoing religion v secular battle in which only one side has been really been fighting for the last few decades. They’ve got the Supreme Court, they’ve got momentum, and they’re pushing the pedal to the metal on a highway near you. WaPo (Gift Article): Highways are the next antiabortion target. One Texas town is resisting. “Antiabortion advocates behind the measure are targeting regions along interstates and in areas with airports, with the goal of blocking off the main arteries out of Texas and keeping pregnant women hemmed within the confines of their antiabortion state. These provisions have already passed in two counties and two cities, creating legal risk for those traveling on major highways including Interstate 20 and Route 84, which head toward New Mexico, where abortion remains legal and new clinics have opened to accommodate Texas women. Several more jurisdictions are expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks. ‘This really is building a wall to stop abortion trafficking,’ said Mark Lee Dickson, the antiabortion activist behind the effort.” For anyone who cares about this issue, the rubber hit the road a while ago.

+ Texas law aims to punish prosecutors who refuse to pursue abortion cases.