DALLAS — The end of abortion in Texas is only the beginning of the story in the Lone Star State.
State Rep. Briscoe Cain says one of his top legislative priorities is to make sure every abortion crime is prosecuted.
The Republican from the Houston area says legislation could be introduced that allows district attorneys to prosecute folks living outside their county.
“I expect the urban county DAs to resist it. And that’s why we need to come up with alternative remedies,” Cain said. “That is one of the main reasons we have civil enforcement under the Texas heartbeat bill. We knew that the major, urban DAs weren’t going to want to enforce these things, so we allowed for civil remedies.”
The Republican acknowledged on Inside Texas Politics the move would require stepping over and ignoring a duly elected official, lifted into the office by voters.
“I guess that’s how that would work. I mean, that’s the idea. And we’re gonna go for it,” he said.
Watch the segment below:
Several companies have already announced they would cover expenses for an employee who has to travel for an abortion, including Walt Disney Co., Meta and JPMorgan Chase.
Those companies could be punished under the “accomplice liability” section of Texas, which applies to all residents and, according to Cain, also businesses.
“So, it also not just goes after the doctors, but it’s going to be going after those giving rides, supporting it, procuring the means, assisting, anybody that is an accomplice to the procurement of an abortion is also then committing a crime,” the Republican said.
June 24, 2022, is a day that many Republicans and evangelicals will remember for the rest of their lives, the day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. And Cain told us he himself was having a hard time containing his own emotions.
“This is, it’s literally, why I went to law school. I chose to go to law school in order to become an attorney in order to fight to end abortion,” he said. “Today is a really, really big day. It’s why I got involved in politics.”