3 ms·

This law is insane. So say I'm an Uber driver, woman gets into my car and I take her to Whole Foods for example. Two weeks later I get court papers saying that

This law is insane. So say I'm an Uber driver, woman gets into my car and I take her to Whole Foods for example. Two weeks later I get court papers saying that I'm getting sued for aiding in an abortion because the woman crossed the street and went to the abortion clinic instead of Whole Foods. I don't see how this could possibly hold up in court.

dragonwriter 5y ago
The law is not designed to hold up in court, it is designed to use the threat of private, ideologically motivated legal process that is doomed ultimately to fail once it gets into federal court to discourage abortion providers from providing service, which is why it was also carefully crafted to evade pre-enforcement review, which would have rendered such a blatantly unconstitutional law a non-problem.
AdrianB1 5y ago
But most Uber drivers may not have the money to defend themselves properly in court, so it is a scare tactic.
labster 5y ago
It doesn’t have to hold up in court. If you are sued and get good representation, they just drop the case. You are not entitled to attorney’s fees under the law. If you do not have good representation, they get a $10000 minimum award. Because there are thousands of officials who individually decide cases who don’t work for the state government, you can’t just sue the attorney general to stop enforcement. The law is designed so it doesn’t have to hold up in court — it’s designed so that no one has standing to challenge it or authority to be challenged on it. No recourse equals maximum enforcement.
gjsman-1000 5y ago
Technically speaking, the law says "knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion." Thus you have a case you didn't knowingly do it. I'm only speaking technically though.

3 ms·

This law is insane. So say I'm an Uber driver, woman gets into my car and I take her to Whole Foods for example. Two weeks later I get court papers saying that

by _fat_santa 5y ago

dragonwriter 5y ago
The law is not designed to hold up in court, it is designed to use the threat of private, ideologically motivated legal process that is doomed ultimately to fail once it gets into federal court to discourage abortion providers from providing service, which is why it was also carefully crafted to evade pre-enforcement review, which would have rendered such a blatantly unconstitutional law a non-problem.
AdrianB1 5y ago
But most Uber drivers may not have the money to defend themselves properly in court, so it is a scare tactic.
labster 5y ago
It doesn’t have to hold up in court. If you are sued and get good representation, they just drop the case. You are not entitled to attorney’s fees under the law. If you do not have good representation, they get a $10000 minimum award. Because there are thousands of officials who individually decide cases who don’t work for the state government, you can’t just sue the attorney general to stop enforcement. The law is designed so it doesn’t have to hold up in court — it’s designed so that no one has standing to challenge it or authority to be challenged on it. No recourse equals maximum enforcement.
gjsman-1000 5y ago
Technically speaking, the law says "knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion." Thus you have a case you didn't knowingly do it. I'm only speaking technically though.