The Texas law deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who performs an abortion or “aids and abets” a procedure. Plaintiffs who have no connection to the patient or the clinic may sue and recover legal fees, as well as $10,000 if they win.
The reaction to last night's Supreme Court ruling is swift and emotional. So-called Right to Life anti-abortion groups hail the new Texas law while more liberal groups deplore the factual end to a constitutional right of a woman to choose without excessive government restriction.
One aspect everyone seems to ignore, however, is the fact that SB 8 deputizes and financially rewards denunciation, turning citizenry into enemies. We are a deeply divided country already. This is another step towards civil war.
Denunciation has been around as one of the ugliest political tools to divide and control a population since the dawn of time. The technique rewards snooping, spying and betraying neighbors, friends and family to law enforcement. It happened during the Spanish Inquisition, Romanov Russia, the USSR, Post-war France (see image) when the French tried to whitewash their Nazi collaboration by shaming French women who had had relationships, sometimes resulting in children, with German military. It was popular in Nazi Germany and in the DDR/East Germany after the war. It is also quite American. Blacklisting in the McCarthy era falls into this category. Watch "Judas and the Black Messiah" to see denunciation in action.
The Trump Administration quite officially launched a denunciation program to discredit Cuban medical assistance in foreign country.
Cubans and other medical staff got U.S. financial support, paying for equipment, travel and life expenses for up to 3 years, to blame colleagues for alleged corruption and human rights abuses. The program was successful. It resulted in a slew of media coverage with titles like "Cuban Doctors Revolt".
Denunciation, using one citizen against another, including family, friends and neighbors; is part of the political tool chest of oppressive, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes.
It is sad to see what the Land of the Free is turning into.