Was going to say…
A judge agreed with her, and the June ticket was dismissed.
Still, it is annoying that state and municipal officers can drag you to court in your pregnant condition to prove what the legislature has already decided.
Almost as though the police exist to harass and obstruct the rights of citizens, rather than to serve and protect them.
The judge only agreed because if they denied, their stupid abortion laws would have to be revisited.
Technically it wasn’t the police’s job to make that kind of interpretation but after the precedent had been set they should apply the court’s decision
it wasn’t the police’s job to make that kind of interpretation
This was the second ticket she’d had dismissed. The courts had already made the interpretation. Cops simply weren’t abiding by it.
See the comment I replied to and read my whole comment
Hey, at least they’re consistent. Also, I can’t think of anybody who wants abortion at 34 weeks.
God does, they create miscarriages all the time.
But God doesn’t kill people /s
You’ve never heard of a still born birth?
Who wants a still born birth?
Not many people. But under the current laws around abortion, hospital administrators are too afraid of legal liability to remove a dead baby from the mother.
More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated since 2022, an Associated Press analysis of federal hospital investigations found.
Two women — one in Florida and one in Texas — were left to miscarry in public restrooms. In Arkansas, a woman went into septic shock and her fetus died after an emergency room sent her home. At least four other women with ectopic pregnancies had trouble getting treatment, including one in California who needed a blood transfusion after she sat for nine hours in an emergency waiting room.
Hospital staff are being told not to treat pregnant women, entirely, because any form of treatment might be flagged as “aiding in an abortion” by the state.
Your initial response read to me that there were folks wishing for still borns.
But yeah the stories are typically horrifying, like the one mother in Texas who had the means to flee out of state to get the healthcare she needed.
I like how she admitted she didn’t think of the political ramifications and was just working the exploit she’d been given XD
In Texas, a pregnant black woman or immigrant only counts as 1 and 1/5th person though.
1 and ⅕? So more than a regular person? Did you mean just ⅕?
He meant 3/5 (the mother) plus 3/5 (the child), so a total of 6/5.
Ahh yes ⅗ … I had it wrong … Damnit!
Don’t feel too bad. I had to think about it hard after I wrote the sentence. Then I thought about it some more, triple checked my work using a fractions calculator, then finally hit the submit button 🤣
Fractions are hard. Normal people don’t think in fractions (anymore; they probably used to in days of yore).
This happened in Texas
Literally
Aren’t there laws against children, babies etc riding in the front seat? Could backfire. /s
Children and babies, not fetuses. Should be fine.
Yeah. Sorry, /s.
If it’s a legitimate car crash, a woman’s body has ways of shutting that whole thing down.
-Republicans
Nah, you just can’t put them in a car seat in the front seat. The uterus is specially designed to protect even in the front seat.
What if I’m the one that’s high?
High Occupant Vehicle lane?
You don’t even have to be pregnant. If they want to ban the morning after pill, a contingency that can be used before you even know you’re pregnant, then just getting nutted in is enough.
They have dedicated carpool lanes?
(almost?) all US state highways do, yes
Wild.
Seems to depend on the area. Traveling around the Midwest I basically never see them, but they’re huge in California for example
Not in Indiana.
I wouldn’t say almost all. Less than half in my experience (mostly in TX and WA).
Live in the midwest and I’ve never seen one.
Minneapolis/St. Paul might have one I’ve just never encountered. They for sure have express lanes, which themselves are a feature I have only ever seen there and no where else in the surrounding region.
They are only in very congested high traffic areas. Near some large cities.
What’s a carpool lane? Do we have them in Europe?
It’s a highway lane that you’re only allowed to drive on if you have multiple people driving in the car. So you could avoid traffic, for example. It’s supposed to reduce the number of cars on the road.
There is one in Norway it seems, in Trondheim.
These days it seems like a lot of states are just allowing people to pay a fee to use them, though.
I’ve seen some in the UK.
Yes! I saw one while on vacation in France. It was in Lyon, i think? Look up ‘France diamond lane’
Yes, the US tends to call them HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle, or Human Ordinance Vehicle) lanes, and they’re typically denoted by a large diamond painted along the center of the lane. Usually the far left lane on the highway, so it’s even past the fast lane. It often has limited entry/exit, and is often a double-solid white lane marker, meaning you’re not allowed to enter or exit the lane except at specific points. Sometimes there are even soft barriers, to further deter people from entering/exiting except at the designated points.
It’s a lane that is reserved for moving people rather than cargo; You’re only allowed to travel in if you have more than one person in the car, or are on a motorcycle. The theory is that by restricting specific lanes to carpoolers, you’ll encourage more people to carpool and have fewer cars on the road. And by restricting lane changes, you avoid slowdowns from people entering/exiting the lane. You typically only see them in major metropolitan areas with lots of commuter traffic.
In reality, it’s one of the most commonly broken traffic laws, with commuters often camping in the HOV lane even when they’re by themselves. Or people attempting to use it as a faster version of the fast lane. It is typically only a minor traffic ticket if you get caught. So enforcement is often very lax, and cops will often only pull you over for it if they’re looking for an easy ticket.
This comic is referencing a lady was pulled over in Texas, and cited for being in the HOV lane without another person in the car. She argued in court that she was pregnant, and since Texas considers fetuses to be alive, the court had to dismiss the ticket because she had a second person in the car. The judge ruled in her favor, mostly to avoid creating a major challenge to written laws over a minor traffic ticket.
Thank you for the detailed explanation!
I have never seen an HOV lane that didn’t require vehicles to have at least three people, but maybe she’s pregnant with twins.
Conversely I’ve never seen one that required more than two!
Which is sad because it really says something about how people commute and travel that getting just 2 people into one car is a bar high enough that most vehicles on a given highway can’t meet it
My experience in WA and OR has all been 2+ passengers. The bar is low
AZ is 2 or more
E: or alternative fuel/hybrid/EV, with special plates
MA I-93 in Boston is 2 or more.
