Is The GOP Now Promoting the Business of Tracking Women?

When the Dobbs decision came down from six Republicans on the Supreme Court, many folks were wondering how long it would take before vigilantes and GOP-controlled states might start tracking women seeking abortion services.

After all, pregnant women in Republican-controlled states didn’t just lose the right to an abortion with that decision. They can now legally be the victims of any man — be he a nosy neighbor, bounty hunter, or police authority — who wants to harass or control them. And there is no shortage of such men.

We’re there. It’s now. Between corporate data brokers and religiously affiliated Crisis Pregnancy Centers, women are under surveillance in ways never before seen. And soon we will be seeing that surveillance turned into actual prosecutorial action.

In states like Greg Abbott’s Texas, bounty hunters are now looking for ways to identify women getting abortions and friends helping them, visions of $10,000 dancing like sugar plums in their heads (and those bounties will go up to $100,000 with the most recent legislation Texas Republicans have proposed).

In states where getting, facilitating, or performing an abortion is now or about to become a crime, prosecutors looking to make a name for themselves — from those with statewide portfolios like Attorneys General to local police and DAs — dream of being the heroes of political ads in the next election cycle showcasing their high-profile arrests.