Lady With Fetuses In Coolers Convicted, But Not For The Fetuses In The Coolers

Anti-abortion extremist Lauren Handy, who led the 2020 invasion of a Washington DC abortion clinic, was convicted this week of a felony charge of conspiracy against rights, as well as of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Four of her co-conspirators got the same.

Handy, notably, was discovered after the invasion to have a collection of aborted fetuses in her home, stashed in coolers, as people who are not absolute psychopaths are known to do.

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Each of the defendants faces up to 11 years in prison, which I’m going to need to point out is a lot more than the zero years that legislators in states that have outlawed abortion are getting — who are doing more or less the same thing as these people did on a massive scale, only without the attack on private property.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, 90 prosecutors across the country put out a collective statement that they would not pursue charges against those who violate the law. Only five of Texas’s 250 district attorneys signed the letter, but that still made some people in the state very sad, as they had very been excited for the state’s jails and prisons to be even more dangerously overcrowded than they are already and had hoped to fill any remaining crevices with those who commit abortion crimes.

In response to this, the Texas Legislature is about to pass a bill today, Senate Bill 20, that would allow the state to punish prosecutors who don’t pursue charges against abortion-havers and their accomplices.

The new law will forbid prosecutors and prosecutor’s offices from having any kind of policy of not prosecuting certain kinds of crimes, including abortion.

However, prosecutors have been quick to say that they certainly have no official policies and no intention of making any. Mark Gonzalez, the district attorney for Nueces County and one of the DAs that signed the statement, told Rolling Stone this week that although he believes that no one should be prosecuted for such a personal decision, “We don’t have any actual policies in place that say: ‘We will not take this case or that case.’”

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Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall argued in a court filing this week that he should be able to pursue conspiracy charges against those who aid Alabama citizens in obtaining an out-of-state abortion.

This is not generally how state laws work, which is why what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and people are not routinely prosecuted for violating the solicitation laws of their own state upon their return from a destination bachelor party. But AG Marshall says that what he’s interested in punishing is not the abortion occurring outside the state, but the conspiracy. By this, he means discussing getting an out-of-state abortion, giving a friend or family member a ride or money for an out-of-state abortion, setting them up with a place to stay, etc. etc.

The filing was in response to a lawsuit from the The Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion rights group that supports people getting out-of-state abortions, against AG Marshall on the grounds that his threats to prosecute those who help anyone obtain an out-of-state have a chilling effect on free speech. Which they do.

“As a result of the Attorney General’s threat, my staff cannot provide vital information and recommendations regarding legal medical care in other states, despite their expertise and professional knowledge as to which out-of-state providers are best suited to each patient’s specific medical circumstances, because they know that to do so is to open themselves up to potential arrest and prosecution,” Robin Marty, operations director for the West Alabama Women’s Center, said in a statement.

Alabama has one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, and the procedure is legal only in cases where the life of the mother is at risk. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.

If you have a certain amount of money, that’s not going to be a problem for you. You can get to another state without discussing it with anyone. But it’s going to be real tough for rape and incest victims who are not old enough to drive and anyone who does not have enough money to travel to another state, get an abortion, pay for a hotel room and travel back — and that’s a lot of people.

For 30 years now, both Democrats and Republicans in the state have agreed to provide funding for so-called “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” — anti-abortion centers known to masquerade as actual abortion clinics in the hopes that those with unwanted pregnancies will end up there by accident and be talked out of having an abortion. That’s about to end, as Governor Josh Shapiro announced that as of December 31, the state will no longer be funding Real Alternatives, an organization that distributes state money to Catholic Charities, anti-abortion counseling centers, and maternity homes.

Via ABC:

The news shocked Eileen Artysh, the executive director of St. Margaret of Castello Maternity Home, which receives money through Real Alternatives to provide housing, materials and parenting counseling. While it’s not their entire budget, the loss of funding will impact the center’s longevity, she said.

Artysh said many pregnant women who come to the maternity home have already made their choice to have the baby.

“Until there’s that last penny left, I’m in this for the long haul,” she said. “And the moms that we help — I can’t imagine deserting any of them.”

It’s one thing to fund something like a maternity home filled with pregnant women who genuinely want to have a baby but can’t otherwise afford care, providing that it isn’t as sketchy as many of them have been known to be. It’s another to fund one where only “many” of the pregnant women who come there definitely want to have the baby. That’s where the problem is.

Hopefully, now that this racket is cut off, the state will be able to direct those funds to organizations that actually do help those with unwanted pregnancies regardless of what they want to do about them.