Texas Republican: Criminalizing abortion would ‘force women to be more personally responsible’

Earlier this January, Texas Republican Tony Tinderholt sponsored a bill designed to criminalize abortions in Texas even of they take place right after the moment of fertilization.

Tinderholt, who is also opposed to abortion even in the case of rape or incest, told the Texas Observer that House Bill 948 would “force” women to be “more personally responsible” when it comes to sex.

“Right now, it’s real easy,” Tinderholt said referring to abortion access. “Right now, they don’t make it important to be personally responsible because they know that they have a backup of ‘oh, I can just go get an abortion.’ Now, we both know that consenting adults don’t always think smartly sometimes. But consenting adults need to also consider the repercussions of the sexual relationship that they’re gonna have, which is a child.”

Tony Tinderholt (Facebook)

He added that he’s “a firm believer that God creates children in his own image, regardless of how that child is brought into the world, it’s created in his image, and how can someone want to destroy that?”

From the Texas Observer:

While the likelihood of the bill’s passage remains to be seen, it sends a clear message that the Texas GOP will continue to invade women’s constitutional right to privacy beyond what is allowed under federal law.

The Republican Party of Texas declared “abolishing abortion by enacting legislation to stop the murder of unborn children” as a priority for the legislative session, but Sanford Levinson, a University of Texas Law professor, said last week “there is simply no doubt whatsoever that it is unconstitutional under current law.”

Tinderholt’s claims that getting an abortion in Texas is “real easy” is demonstrably false. As New York Magazine points out, Texas has enacted some of the strongest abortion restrictions in the country, which include a 20-week abortion ban and a mandatory “counseling session” (which is known to relay false information), followed by a 24-hour waiting period.

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Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

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