Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced Friday that her email and social media campaigns in support of Texas abortion rights groups and health centers had raised more than $300,000 in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to not block the state’s new controversial abortion law.
The progressive lawmaker, who has fervently spoken out against Texas’s so-called fetal heartbeat law since it officially went into effect this month, unveiled the milestone in a press release from her team, noting that 100 percent of the funds will go to “organizations providing much needed resources to folks seeking abortion care in Texas.”
The Texas law, S.B. 8, prohibits abortions in the state after cardiac activity is detected, which typically occurs around six weeks into gestation and before many people are aware of their pregnancy.
The law has gained significant backlash from Democrats due in part to a provision that allows virtually any private citizen to file a lawsuit against a health center or anyone who aids or performs an abortion in violation of the law, with plaintiffs given the opportunity to secure $10,000 plus legal fees should they win their lawsuits.
While the state law provides exceptions for medical emergencies, it does not explicitly contain similar exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Ocasio-Cortez noted Friday that more than 4,000 people had donated to her fundraising campaigns thus far, with contributions going to organizations like the Texas Equal Access Fund, Whole Woman’s Health Alliance and Fund Texas Choice.
The Democrat tweeted this week that the Supreme Court’s decision to not block the Texas law “imperils every menstruating person in the US, every person who engages in sex, and every person who values our constitutional right to privacy.”
Ocasio-Cortez promoted her fundraising campaign this week while firing back at former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R), who called the progressive lawmaker a “fake feminist.”
Palin in a Fox News interview responded to Ocasio-Cortez saying that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) didn’t understand a “menstruating person’s body” in his defense of the state abortion law.
“Wow, AOC, she’s really milking this, isn’t she?” Palin said. “She’s such a fake feminist that she would bring up an issue like this and try to use it to make some kind of political point.”
Ocasio-Cortez hit back by suggesting that Palin use a “special hotline” to air her grievances, called “1-800-CRY NOW.”
The lawmaker added in a tweet that she had set up a website containing the hotline name that leads users to a page to donate to abortion and reproductive health care providers in Texas.