TX Anti-Abortion Law Created To Incite Fear: ATX Mayor Tells CNN

Austin TX

14 September, 2021

1:04 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — Austin mayor Steve Adler believes the state's anti-abortion law was not meant to stand up in court, but created to incite fear, according to an interview with CNN over the weekend. Adler told CNN's Jim Acosta on Sunday that after talking to legal scholars, he's convinced the law, which went into effect on Sept. 1, won't stand, but states the damage it has created has already been done. "I don't think it was intended to survive, which is really the perversity of this whole thing that people that have been sworn to defend and protect the Constitution have come up with this construct with vigilantes and bounties in order to subvert that Constitution," he said. "It can't last. This is something that just can't be this way. But that wasn't the intent, I don't think. Even as we sit here now, there are clinics that are closing. Women having to flee the state." Live in Austin? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone. I joined @CNN's @Acosta today to discuss the unconstitutional and dangerous #SB8. pic.twitter.com/Utf6inIlfx— Mayor Adler | Get vaccinated! (@MayorAdler) September 12, 2021 Acosta asked the mayor if this was in fact happening, and Adler stated Oklahoma clinics have already seen a huge influx of Texas women desperate for help after being unable to get services in their home state. Acosta also mentioned Gov. Greg Abbott's promise to "eliminate all rapists from the streets" when asked if a person who was raped, either by incest, must carry the child throughout their pregnancy term. "The suggestion that the governor has known all along to rid our state of rape, and not letting people know, is obviously outrageous," Adler said. "This is unfortunately something that is apart of our society, and when the state is out to adopt a law that says someone has to go to term with that pregnancy, is definitely something that is not supported by the people of the state." The law, which is known to many as Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity — usually around six weeks, before some women know they're pregnant. After it took effect on Sept. 1, the bill became the most restrictive law on abortions across the country. RELATED COVERAGE: U.S. Justice Dept. Sues Texas Over New Abortion Bill Several agencies in the state have filed lawsuits against the state, however, last week the Department of Justice filed its own lawsuit against Texas over the bill citing is "in open defiance of the Constitution." It goes forth asking a federal judge to declare that the law is invalid, "to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that Texas has violated, " according to the Associated Press. "The act is clearly unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent," Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference announcing the suit. He said the Justice Department is also concerned other states could enact similar laws that would "deprive their citizens of their constitutional rights.