The Texas Witch Trials
New legislation is creating a 21st-century witch hunt
For context:
The Alabama abortion ban made headlines in 2019 as the strictest abortion ban at the time. House Bill 314 made abortion illegal, even in cases of rape and incest, and foresaw prison sentences for women who terminated their pregnancies, as well as the doctors who performed the procedures (up to 99 years of imprisonment!). The Alabama abortion ban allows abortion to be performed only in cases when either the mother’s or the child’s life are endangered during pregnancy.
An additional reason Alabama caused outrage was its senate. There were 35 senators, out of which only four were women (none of them voted Yay). The law was voted in by 25 white men. Twenty-five white men who do not have the biological ability to carry a child, nor have the experience of being the marginalized lower class, were chosen to make this decision. They were given the power to decide what persons who do have the reproductive apparatus to create and carry a child will do with that ability, without consulting them at all.
Challenge Accepted!
It’s hard to believe that the situation could get worse, but the American South continues its century-long tradition of aggressive white-hooded patriarchal views. Texas has now passed the most restrictive abortion ban in the USA and in the entire developed world. On top of including all the restrictions, the Alabama ban imposes, Texas added several more disturbing points. Let’s unpack them.
The “fetal heartbeat” problem
Many states have attempted to implement this legislation, but Texas is the only one that has succeeded so far. The legislation states that abortion is legal only up until the sixth week of pregnancy, with the rationale behind this being the idea that this is when the “fetal heartbeat” is first heard. This is extremely problematic for multiple reasons:
Firstly, it’s simply inaccurate. At six weeks, the embryo does not have a heart (or any other organ), meaning it cannot have a heartbeat. Electronic vibrations can (but don’t necessarily have to) be detected at six weeks, but these vibrations are created by developing cells that will eventually form the heart if the embryo continues its growth and develops into a fetus. The tear-jerking term “fetal heartbeat” is pure emotional manipulation and is not based in science.
Secondly, most women don’t know that they are pregnant by six weeks. A regular period (and not every female has a regular period) comes at approximately four weeks. Approximately a week of the period being “late” is not an immediate red flag for pregnancy. The menstrual cycle is a complex physiological process that allows for inconsistencies due to multiple reasons (stress, weight loss, hormonal disbalance, immune system weakness, underlying illness). In effect, most women will suspect they might be pregnant five weeks after their last period. Confirming a pregnancy, deciding on what to do about it and actually performing an abortion, it’s safe to say, takes much longer than the one week the Texan lawmakers seem to think is sufficient and fair.
The Safety of the Mother
The legislation allows for one exception when it comes to the law (no, it’s not rape or incest or being a minor or the embryo presenting with health issues), it’s the endangerment of the mother’s health: sort of. The law states that an abortion may be performed if the pregnancy is expected to cause “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” to the mother. Extremely narrow as it is, the vague description doesn’t specify what this entails, and the public suspects that doctors will interpret it even more narrowly — in fear for their own safety.
The Witch Hunt Initiative
Possibly the worst part of the entire law is the recruitment of civilians. Citizens of Texas are encouraged to report women attempting to carry out an abortion (and their “accomplices” — friends, family, doctors, or anyone who knew and supported them, “aided and abetted” their crime). In fact, citizens will be awarded $10 000 for reporting the “(attempted) murder” . Even if the accused turns out to be innocent (which can be concluded only after a lengthy trial or invasive gynecological procedures which confirm whether an abortion has been had), the person that reported the woman will not stand any punishment and their legal fees will be covered by the state, but the accused will have to cover their own legal fees. On top of that, they will receive no compensation for the trauma of being wrongfully sued and subjected to public slander.
21st Century Salem
In the late 17th century, New England made history for the very first time. Europe had by then already started its descent into the “ungodly” era of Renaissance and Humanism, but the Puritans that immigrated to North America were set on remaining pure. In fact, the purity of their Christian hearts was so extreme that they were plagued by the fear that their beloved City Upon A Hill might be desecrated by evil spirits, demons, or Satan himself. Of course, the biggest liability was the women. Cotton Mather very convincingly explained that women were more susceptible to being controlled by the devil because their bodies were more fragile, so the devil could reach their souls more easily (and also there’s that whole thing about women being weak-minded because Eve ate an apple). It didn’t take more than a couple of children accusing their black slave Tituba of practicing witchcraft for the biggest and deadliest witch trial of North American history to commence.
During the trials, people of Salem were encouraged to report on people (women) who they suspected were witches. Reason for suspicion could be anything — anyone who was considered to be acting in a strange or ungodly way could be accused and would stand a trial impossible to win, inevitably ending in the accused’s death. Fear mongering and moralizing Biblical propaganda fueled the fire. People accused everyone and anyone — out of fear, jealousy, personal issues, or pure malice. The Salem Witch Trials are now studied worldwide as the most fascinating case of mass hysteria in recorded history.
Gallows Hill is Moving to Texas
Today, Texas is doing exactly what Salem had done — encouraging citizens to tell on their neighbors while brainwashing them about the sacredness and Biblical validity of their cause. It is quite likely that we will witness another historically noteworthy example of mass hysteria rather soon.
Who will be the accuser?
- a supporter of the new law doing their civil duty
But also…
- a religious fanatic
- a racist
- a homophobe
- a sexist
- a scorned ex-partner
- an abusive current partner
- an unsupportive relative
- an angry former friend
- a nosy neighbor
- a desperate person in dire need of the $10 000
- a professional “witch hunter” pretending to assist women who are seeking out abortions only to turn them in and pick up the bounty
Who will be accused?
- women who have broken the law by having abortions
But also…
- women who have enraged someone with unrelated behavior
- doctors who performed abortions
- culprits (the Uber driver that took the woman to the clinic, the friend who sat next to her, the family who was aware and didn’t report it)
Who will suffer the most?
- rape victims
- teenagers
- undocumented immigrants
- women of color
- women without proper sexual education
- poverty-stricken women
- women with mental health issues
- women with chronic illness
The nearly impossible six-week deadline will be extremely difficult to meet if a woman isn’t an expert in reproductive health or tracking her periods vigilantly. This can happen if it’s a young girl simply missing life experience, or if it’s a grown-up who didn’t have access to proper sexual education. Furthermore, even women who do realize they are pregnant could have difficulties reaching a clinic in time if logistics and finances are a problem — and this is most often a racial issue. Moving out of Texas or taking a fun road trip in order to get a safe abortion elsewhere is not a possibility for everyone. On top of being a war on women, this law is a class and color war. The rich will always find a way to access safe healthcare — the poor and marginalized won’t.
The Texas abortion ban is a crime against human rights in itself — but, it’s a source of crime as well. To think that people won’t abuse the opportunity to profit both from illegal abortion clinics and off of scamming desperate women for their own benefit is to be very naïve. History has shown time and time again that banning abortion doesn’t stop abortion — it just makes it life-threatening.
Luckily, quite a significant part of the American population is outraged by this law, including the White House. Whether the legislation can be overturned remains to be seen. The very fact that women having autonomy over their own bodies is questioned in a country that claims to be the leader of the free world, in the 21st century, is ironic, troubling, and simply frightening in itself. The Handmaid’s Tale is not meant to be read as an instruction manual!
Oh, and by the way, do you know how the Salem Witch Trials Ended?
The Governor’s wife was accused of being a witch. At that point, he showed up at court and proclaimed the trials as ridiculous and banned witch hunts. I wonder, I wonder… whose wife or daughter will it take to end this madness?
