Latest news with #TexasHeartbeatAct
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas' latest anti-abortion bill should alarm anyone who cares about rule of law
You know how some showrunners try to amp up the sex and gore in streaming series when they're worried about fading viewer interest and don't have better ideas? The Texas Legislature is following this playbook when it comes to abortion. After lawmakers in 2021 passed Senate Bill 8, the "Texas Heartbeat Act" that banned abortion once fetal cardiac activity was present, Texas abortions officially fell to negligible numbers. But Texas women continued getting abortions at nearly the same rate as when the procedure was legal. Abortion pills are easy to obtain and take, even in states where they are illegal. The pills are almost always effective, and have fewer serious side effects than drugs such as Viagra and penicillin. With the Senate's recent passage of SB 2880, the 'Women and Child Protection Act,' the desperation of Texas legislators is palpable. The Protection Act would make abortion pill manufacturers, distributors, prescribers and transporters strictly liable for the death or injury of a pregnant person or fetus. Nearly any private person could bring a civil suit up to six years after the alleged abortion, seeking damages of up to $100,000. Additionally, the bill authorizes the Texas attorney general to bring a civil action on behalf of fetuses to enforce the state's criminal abortion laws. The bill would make not only defendants but also their attorneys liable to pay the attorney's fees and costs of prevailing plaintiffs. The corker is that the bill purports to prevent courts from finding the bill unconstitutional, whether in part or in whole. In fact, should any court dare to find any portion of the bill unconstitutional, the bill declares such a finding to be void — and SB 2880 says that any person may sue the judge or anyone following the judge's ruling and obtain at least $100,000 in punitive damages from them, among other damages and relief. Clearly, the Texas Legislature thinks that those prescribing and supplying abortion pills to Texas women are scofflaws who need to be disciplined. But the Legislature is woefully impotent on this issue. The Texas Heartbeat Act already permits private people to bring these sorts of 'bounty suits' against many of the defendants that SB 2880 contemplates. If the Heartbeat Act isn't working, why should SB 2880 yield greater success? Damages under the Heartbeat Act start at $10,000 rather than the $100,000 offered under SB 2880, but given that both also cover prevailing plaintiffs' attorneys fees and costs, it's hard to see how the increased bounty would spur the thousands of private suits needed to help deter illicit abortions. The Legislature should realize that the bounty hunter tactic isn't working. The tactic is unconstitutional. To sue for civil damages, a person must have suffered a redressable injury. Without an actual injury, a person doesn't have the right to bring a civil lawsuit seeking damages against another party. Imagine if anyone — your neighbor, a business competitor, some person on the other side of the country — could haul you into court and sue you for thousands of dollars if they learned that you did something that the Legislature decided wasn't allowed, like jaywalking or wearing a red shirt. This is what the Heartbeat Act and SB 2880 do. They throw the bedrock constitutional principle of due process under the bus. What's more, in an outrageous attempt to circumvent the courts, SB 2880 would heavily penalize any judge who dared to find the statute unconstitutional. Most of published decisions to date involving the Heartbeat Act, including decisions at the U.S. and Texas Supreme Courts, have concerned matters other than the bounty hunter provision. But one Texas district court has addressed the substantive issue. It held that the Heartbeat Act's enforcement mechanism is unconstitutional. Any other holding would be absurd. It would throw state courts open to anyone, potentially, to sue another party for any reason or no reason at all. The Texas Legislature is trying to tear down the rule of law. Regardless of our views on abortion, we should all oppose this. Laura Hermer is a professor of law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Saint Paul, Minn. She previously served on the faculty at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Houston Law Center. She teaches and writes on health law and reproductive rights. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas' anti-abortion bill is an attack on the rule of law | Opinion
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alleged Canadian hacker behind 2021 theft of Texas GOP and GiveSendGo user data in custody: DOJ
An alleged co-founder of the online hacker movement Anonymous has been taken into custody after a 2021 data breach targeting the Texas Republican Party. Aubrey Cottle, a 37-year-old Canadian national, is known professionally as "Kirtaner." The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Cottle with hacking into the Texas Republican Party's web server and stealing sensitive data in 2021. Cottle was arrested in Canada Wednesday, and authorities there are pursuing additional charges under Canadian law, the DOJ said. Canada Freedom Convoy: Givesendgo Demands Fbi Probe Hackers, Alleges 'Highly Coordinated' Political Doxing In Texas, Cottle faces charges of "unlawfully transferring, possessing or using a means of identification with the intent to commit, or aid or abet, or in connection with, unlawful activity under state or federal law," according to a press release. Read On The Fox News App Cottle uses his LinkedIn profile to describe himself as a "Filthy blackhat but good boi." The same page shows Cottle as one of the founders of Anonymous, a decentralized hacker group aiming to breach governmental institutions in protest. "Yes, that one," Cottle wrote. "Hal Turner, Scientology, Guy Fawkes masks, you got it. Really. Google it." According to a news release from acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas, Cottle gained unauthorized access to a third-party hosting company called "Epik" before defacing the Texas GOP's website. "Texas: Taking voices from women to promote theocratic erosion of church/state barriers," the Anonymous rewrite of the site's landing page said. The banner of the website was replaced with cartoon characters, a pornographic image and a music video. Hacker Group Anonymous Declares 'Total War' On Donald Trump The same release alleges Cottle stole a backup of the website's server containing personal identifying information. The stolen data was then posted online for public download. Prosecutors added Cottle even bragged about the breach on social media. Cottle's TikTok page's bio says "that Anonymous founder hacker guy you probably saw in the news or Vice or sumthn." According to the DOJ, data from the Texas Republican Party leak was discovered in a search on Cottle's personal electronic devices. The Anonymous group's breach of the website was allegedly pro-choice retaliation. In September 2021, the Lone Star State passed the Texas Heartbeat Act. Under the act, abortion is illegal past the point a fetal heartbeat can be detected, around five or six weeks of gestational age. Cottle has also been linked to a "political doxing" data breach of Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo in February 2022, after the platform hosted a fundraiser for the Canada Freedom Convoy. Names of donors, intended to remain private and secure on the platform, were publicized across the internet. GiveSendGo founder Jacob Wells spoke with Fox News Digital at the time of the breach. "This is illegal, and these people should be going to jail. The FBI — I mean, it's surprising that we haven't heard from any investigative services. We will be reaching out ourselves to just see that there's some investigation into this. This is completely unacceptable," Wells said. GiveSendGo has a crowdfunding campaign for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. The FBI Austin Cyber Task Force is investigating Cottle's case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Karthik Srinivasan is prosecuting the case. If convicted, Cottle faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for article source: Alleged Canadian hacker behind 2021 theft of Texas GOP and GiveSendGo user data in custody: DOJ
Fox News
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Alleged Canadian hacker behind 2021 theft of Texas GOP and GiveSendGo user data in custody: DOJ
An alleged co-founder of the online hacker movement Anonymous has been taken into custody after a 2021 data breach targeting the Texas Republican Party. Aubrey Cottle, a 37-year-old Canadian national, is known professionally as "Kirtaner." The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Cottle with hacking into the Texas Republican Party's web server and stealing sensitive data in 2021. Cottle was arrested in Canada Wednesday, and authorities there are pursuing additional charges under Canadian law, the DOJ said. In Texas, Cottle faces charges of "unlawfully transferring, possessing or using a means of identification with the intent to commit, or aid or abet, or in connection with, unlawful activity under state or federal law," according to a press release. Cottle uses his LinkedIn profile to describe himself as a "Filthy blackhat but good boi." The same page shows Cottle as one of the founders of Anonymous, a decentralized hacker group aiming to breach governmental institutions in protest. "Yes, that one," Cottle wrote. "Hal Turner, Scientology, Guy Fawkes masks, you got it. Really. Google it." According to a news release from acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas, Cottle gained unauthorized access to a third-party hosting company called "Epik" before defacing the Texas GOP's website. "Texas: Taking voices from women to promote theocratic erosion of church/state barriers," the Anonymous rewrite of the site's landing page said. The banner of the website was replaced with cartoon characters, a pornographic image and a music video. The same release alleges Cottle stole a backup of the website's server containing personal identifying information. The stolen data was then posted online for public download. Prosecutors added Cottle even bragged about the breach on social media. Cottle's TikTok page's bio says "that Anonymous founder hacker guy you probably saw in the news or Vice or sumthn." According to the DOJ, data from the Texas Republican Party leak was discovered in a search on Cottle's personal electronic devices. The Anonymous group's breach of the website was allegedly pro-choice retaliation. In September 2021, the Lone Star State passed the Texas Heartbeat Act. Under the act, abortion is illegal past the point a fetal heartbeat can be detected, around five or six weeks of gestational age. Cottle has also been linked to a "political doxing" data breach of Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo in February 2022, after the platform hosted a fundraiser for the Canada Freedom Convoy. Names of donors, intended to remain private and secure on the platform, were publicized across the internet. GiveSendGo founder Jacob Wells spoke with Fox News Digital at the time of the breach. "This is illegal, and these people should be going to jail. The FBI — I mean, it's surprising that we haven't heard from any investigative services. We will be reaching out ourselves to just see that there's some investigation into this. This is completely unacceptable," Wells said. GiveSendGo has a crowdfunding campaign for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. The FBI Austin Cyber Task Force is investigating Cottle's case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Karthik Srinivasan is prosecuting the case. If convicted, Cottle faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas Senate Bill 31 looks to eliminate emergency abortion 'loopholes'
The Brief Texas lawmakers present a trio of abortion bills to strengthen abortion laws and clear up what is constituted as a medical emergency. Senate Bill 31 is intended to protect doctors who perform abortions in cases of medical emergencies. Lawmakers debate Senate Bill 33 and Senate Bill 28-80 to close any potential loopholes that cities have exploited by using public funds to support out-of-state abortion travel. Texas lawmakers took up a trio of bills that aim at strengthening some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. But one bill is intended to clarify when doctors can perform an abortion during an emergency — a situation some doctors say has been murky. What we know When the Texas Heartbeat Act was established in 2021, medical professionals across the lone-star state claimed it muddied the waters on what constituted a medical emergency, allowing an abortion to be performed, legally, and without repercussions. Senate Bill 31, dubbed the "Life of the Mother Act", seeks to get clinicians on the same page. It also comes after the news outlet Propublica reported on three Texas women, including 28-year-old Josseli Barnica, who died after not receiving critical care during miscarriages. Dig deeper Also in committee on Thursday, was Senate Bill 33 and Senate Bill 28-80 were debated. SB 33 is to close "loopholes" that supporters say some cities have exploited using public funds to support out-of-state abortion travel. "SB 33 bans the logistical support, which includes child care, transportation to or from abortion providers, lodging and meals. Overall, Senate Bill 33 ensures that, local governments comply with Texas pro-life laws," said State Senator, Donna Campbell of Texas District 25. This would implement criminal penalties for people and organizations who fund others' abortions. It also aims to crack down on those who mail abortion-inducing medications into the state. What they're saying "The intent of this bill is to remove any excuse from a doctor or a hospital treating a mom, for example, with an ectopic pregnancy, or a mom who's suffered a miscarriage or situations like that. To remove any question, any hesitation," said State Senator, Bryan Hughes of Texas District 1. "This will protect doctors and civil suits. It will protect them in criminal prosecution as well as any discipline from the medical board," said Texas Right to Life President, Dr. John Seago. The other side Reaction to the bills are drawing swift criticism from many women's health advocacy groups. "This is more about control than it is about protecting people or protecting their health or protecting life," said Denise Rodriguez of the Texas Equal Access fund. Rodriguez works for Texas Equal Access Fund, an organization funded through private donors which helps Texas women get access to abortions in other states. Under the new legislation, she and her group could be prosecuted. "Anybody who is thought to have helped somebody access care… like somebody who gave somebody a ride to the airport, somebody who helped them pay for the procedure or facilitated in some way," said Rodriguez. She accuses some lawmakers of intentionally "disguising" pieces of the legislation to avoid a bigger fuss. "It is a political Trojan horse. It's being marketed as a way to provide clarity for physicians and hospitals to be able to provide emergency medical care for pregnant Texans who are facing emergencies. But it doesn't do that," said Rodriguez. What's next The timeline is unclear about when the trio of bills will be voted on or whether there's any indication they'd then pass the house. The Source Information in this article is provided by the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs and previous FOX 4 coverage.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Husband says Texas abortion law led to pregnant wife's death
Hope Ngumezi still can't believe he had to bury his wife after he took her to a Texas hospital for a miscarriage when she was 11 weeks pregnant. "I blame the doctors, I blame the hospital, and I blame the state of Texas," Ngumezi said. In 2021, Texas lawmakers passed a near-total abortion ban. The Texas Heartbeat Act allows an exception only if a pregnant woman's life is in danger or faces a serious risk — but doctors told CBS News the law lacks clarity around how danger and serious risk are defined. "I feel like the law is very dangerous," Ngumezi said. Porsha Ngumezi wasn't given a D&C, a surgical procedure that can be used when a miscarriage isn't complete and the patient is bleeding excessively — as Ngumezi was at the time. It's the same procedure used for many abortions, but doctors told CBS News their colleagues hesitate to perform them, fearing the state's criminal penalties. Ngumezi believes that's what happened in his wife's situation. She eventually went into cardiac arrest and died. "I just felt like the doctor turned his back on us. You know, 'I don't want to go to jail. I don't want to lose my license or get fined, so the best course is for me to protect myself,'" Ngumezi said. The Texas law may be impacting the maternal mortality rate. Between 2019 and 2022, that rate increased by 56% after the state outlawed abortions, according to Gender Equity Policy Institute. During the same period, the rate increased by just 11% on a national scale. Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman during or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy from causes related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but excluding accidental or incidental causes. State Sen. Bryan Hughes, who authored the legislation banning most abortions in Texas, said, "Most hospitals are getting this right, but some are not." In response to doctors' concerns about the ramifications, Hughes said, "I hear that. And I can show you the definition of abortion in Texas and it says removal of a miscarriage is not an abortion." Hughes said the legislature is working on clarifying the language, but the law has yet to be amended. As for Ngumezi, he's doing the best he can as a single dad of two boys. "We're not supposed to be worried about, man if I have a complication, am I gonna lose my life? Would a doctor give me the proper care?" Ngumezi said. It's critical care he worries is guided by the fear of prosecution, rather than saving mothers' lives. Sneak peek: The Puzzling Death of Susann Sills Inside Trump's call with Vladimir Putin DOGE evicts U.S. Institute of Peace board members
