How does one prove an individual had an illegal abortion? The issues of bodily autonomy, privacy, patient rights, and more are all at stake in such a question, and the answers are not easy to to come by. All of this makes enforcement of laws like that in Texas very difficult to enforce.
In a recent opinion piece at The Washington Post, columnist Jennifer Rubin writes about the Texas law, which offers "bounties" to individuals who offer information about those who seek abortion services. Incentivizing private citizens in this way makes "the Fourth Amendment [go] out the window entirely," Rubin writes. To emphasize her point, she quotes Professor Robin Fretwell Wilson, who compared such measures to those in North Korea, where citizens are encouraged to act as spies on their neighbors and report anti-government activity.
Read the full article on The Washington Post website.
Note: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Illinois College of Law.