Thread by @RewireNewsGroup

What’s that saying? The devil works hard, but anti-choice lawmakers trying to pass nonsense bills that give a fetus an attorney work harder?

That’s right folks, it’s time to check in on some anti-choice tomfoolery in the courts.

Last week the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked an Alabama law that would have required minors seeking an abortion to endure a trial-like hearing, complete with a lawyer to represent their fetus or embryo.

This lawyer would be allowed to cross-examine the minor on why they were seeking an abortion—as if they were representing an actual person and not, say, a cluster of cells.

You might be feeling a vague sense of deja vu reading this.

That’s probably because we were there when Alabama lawmakers first passed this law back in 2014: rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2014/1…

The "lawyers for fetuses" law has remained blocked since 2017.

It’s 2021 and the courts are *still* fighting over it.

That’s the legal landscape for abortion rights and access in this country even *without* a big fight at the Supreme Court later in the fall.

And lest you think this is just a problem for Alabamans, our own @AngryBlackLady wrote about a similar law introduced in Texas just this year: rewirenewsgroup.com/ablc/2021/02/1…

If you’re looking for a fun (not fun) thought experiment, ask yourself what kind of questions a lawyer for a fetus might ask.

Things like, "Do you think that fetus wants to be born?" or the classic, "What if it grows up to cure cancer?"

Like all abortion restrictions, laws requiring fetuses be represented in court have one end goal: restricting abortion. For more on these absurd measures and how advocates are pushing back, stay with us on Twitter and on Instagram @RewireNewsGroup.