🤦
Republican lawmakers in Texas have once again introduced a bill that tries to shove fetal personhood into carpool lane regulations. This time, however, the bill passed the House after an amendment from Democrats to include all mothers, whether their children are in the car or not. The dangerous proposal that could further entrench the idea of personhood into state law now goes to the Senate for consideration.
This isn’t just a horrifically-misleading headline, it’s straight-up false.
The bill originally was written to directly establish personhood of a fetus, but Democrats got an amendment in that keeps the “pregnant mothers get to use the carpool lane” part, without the language that establishes personhood for a fetus. They literally called the Republicans’ bluff on “this bill is about supporting mothers”, by making that specific. This caused one Republican to retract his vote, because the amendment “guts the pro-life purpose of the bill”.
Don’t you know people who use the Internet can’t be bothered to read the article!
Some of us are completely illiterate!
I might believe democrats are playing 4d chess if they ever accomplished anything that didn’t get used against them.
How do cops determine if a woman is pregnant or beer bellied though? They make em pee on a stick they carry with the breathalyzer?
The pregnancy registry of course.
It’s still a stupid waste of everyone’s time.
Thank you for putting my mind at ease after reading the heinously misleading title of the OP.
This is sexist against fathers and therefore unconstitutional.
Bill text:
Sec. 545.429. USE OF HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE LANE BY CERTAIN OPERATORS. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), a female operator of a motor vehicle who is pregnant or is a parent or legal guardian of another person is entitled to use any high occupancy vehicle lane in this state regardless of the number of occupants in the motor vehicle.
Texas Constitution:
ARTICLE 1. BILL OF RIGHTS
Sec. 3a. EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW. Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin. This amendment is self-operative.
What this would actually do (once the test case ruled that it would have to apply to fathers too) is destroy HOV lanes entirely by making everybody able to use them, since the state would have the burden of proof to show that the driver has never had children.
destroy HOV lanes entirely by making everybody able to use them
In Texas, God intended for you to use the most gas possible, and sharing a ride is communism.
Wouldn’t maternity leave also be sexist with that logic?
That’s why on the first world we have paternity leave. I as a father even had breastfeeding breaks, with the intention of giving the same rights to both parents.
I was with you right up to the breastfeeding breaks, what exactly is the game plan for that break?
Pumped milk can be stored in a bottle and taken with you anywhere you want. I’m told it’s very convenient.
Snacks on the go
Two fold: first, making both parents equal in rights. Second, you can pump milk in advance and give with a bottle. Even if it’s formula, allows the father to be involved.
So it’s just a feeding break?
There’s a material difference between the impact of pregnancy on mothers and fathers (though the latter should also get leave, but I understand if someone argues that mothers need more to recover physically).
This has no bearing on which lane one can use.
If you’re a transgender man who can get pregnant, I don’t see why you cannot use the HOV lane 🫃
Well, yeah.
But also maternity leave isn’t even in the law here in the US anyway (maybe some states have it for all I know, but even if so I doubt Texas is among them), so it’s equal-opportunity shittiness and the clause I cited doesn’t really apply.
Came here to say this too. This just makes HOV pointless.
In my experience , they’re pretty much already useless anyway.
Why help them establish that fetus=person?
(Edit: Having seen the other comments including the language of the bill, it makes more sense.)
They didn’t. They made mothers able to use HOV lanes without a second occupant, blocking the GOP’s attempts to use HOV lanes to normalize fetal personhood.
Yeah, makes more sense now. Thanks
Exactly!
Because Democrats and Republicans take orders from the same rich masters.
I want my state, a smaller blue state, to start using this same logic. Namely, I think we should, using donor cells and cloning techniques, arrange to have 100 million frozen embryos sitting in freezers in the state capital. Logically, if embryos are people, then those 100 million embryos should count as citizens for the sake of Congressional representation and federal funding.
This is a very interesting concept. They would have to be born in order to be a (natural born) citizen I think. But, it should still work because the census is required to count residents not citizens
How is everyone involved in this not mortally fucking embarrassed over even discussing this stupidity with any seriousness?
But they won’t let fetuses count toward your tax exemptions.
Yet…
I don’t know what’s wrong with Texas. It’s like NO ONE can’t do shiut and they just let any dumb ass pass any laws they come up with on their christian fanatism cause I bet non of it is even endorced by God/Jesus or higher beings. It’s like Ted Cruz and Abbot can pass any laws they want regardless of what the constituents wants and really wish. We’re against Muslims and jihads stuff about how they treat women and their clothes they need to wear but this same texas republican fanatics are pushing in the exact same direction with all their supposedly religious laws, which are just plain bullshit. Just think about a law Ted Cruz passed not too long ago about restricting dildos to 6 per person, like why do you even need to do that with what purpose and how does that even help texas at all?
It’s always weird when we actually get good legislation passed because of this.
4 seat cars can now advertise as seating 36… 4 octomoms
Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes.
I mean pregnant women get priority seats on busses. It would make sense they get priority lanes in traffic too. I dont see a big deal. I’m just glad they have HOV lanes at all.
Meanwhile in Georgia, they got rid of their HOV and bus lanes and made them into toll lanes for rich people.
It’s how they always go. Just look at how Miami turned out. Fucking $20 to be in stop and go traffic for ten miles.
What is it if you dont pay?
It requires the fast/e/sunshine pass that is radio monitored. I’m sure some people do it in other people’s cars that don’t have it, but it’s a fairly hefty ticket if I remember correctly.
No, I mean what if you dont use the toll lane. What if you take the proletariat roads instead?
I did logistics to and from MIA in my late teens and early twenties. And the proletariat route was often (when I say often, I mean 95%) many times faster when it was >$16. I witnessed idiots running over the little white poles that separate the lanes, to join us.
Hours of your life and fractions of your soul.
Honestly though, when the prices get significantly high, both sets of lanes are backed up to hell and it doesn’t really matter.
I dont have a license plate on my bicycle. Checkmate.
Ironically, you would make it wherever faster.
As it should be. I like Florida roads. They’re doing something right, I guess.
What HOV lanes? They’ve turned every HOV into a managed toll lane.
That’s the real story
Next step: define sperms as fetuses
Well this is fucking stupid.
Im a bit shocked they are ok with the “Creature attached to the womb” driving.
How is this dangerous? Sounds pretty based.
