Kinzinger knocks Texas abortion law component that allows people to ‘tattle’

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said on Sunday that while he is personally opposed to abortion, he dislikes a component of a recently enacted Texas law that allows private citizens to “tattle” on one another to enforce the legislation.

“I’m pro-life, but what I don’t like to see is this idea of every citizen being able to tattle, sue an Uber driver, as you said, be deputized to enforce this abortion law to whatever they want,” Kinzinger said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I think, if you’re going to do something on abortion, it’s a debate that we should have that’s open and not just opening people up to be sued for any bit part in that process,” Kinzinger added. 

The Supreme Court last week declined to block a law in Texas that prohibits abortion once a fetal heartbeat has been detected, which can be as early as six weeks after a woman becomes pregnant. It allows private citizens to enforce the law by giving them $10,000 each time they are able to successfully sue someone who has been found guilty of being involved in or helping someone obtain an abortion.

Justices are set to take up a case regarding a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks. Some lawmakers are worried that a Supreme Court decision next term would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion in the U.S..

“If you ever questioned where these five Justices would be, now you know. We must put Roe into law now. There is no time to lose,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) wrote on Twitter following last week’s Supreme Court ruling. 

If you ever questioned where these five Justices would be, now you know.

We must put Roe into law now. There is no time to lose.

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) September 2, 2021