From the article: "South Carolina state senators introduced legislation that would make it illegal to “aid, abet or conspire with someone” to obtain an abortion."
This bill isn't law, which is what I thought based on the headline.
South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
11–20 of 217 posts
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#12Quoted post unavailable.
The same way a government turns around and says that things like child pornography, human trafficking, terrorism, hate speech, bullying, piracy are not allowed on the internet. It may not be the most effective thing in the world when there is not a consensus from all governing and participating parties but that doesn't stop them from doing it and using it against an individual who is caught in the act of perusing/eng…
> The same way a government turns around and says that things like child pornography, human trafficking, terrorism, hate speech, bullying, piracy are not allowed on the internet.
I'm not so sure. Those are all things that most people consider to be bad, and that most countries have laws banning, or there's at least enough overlap between countries and languages to keep it mostly out of the mainstream internet content in certain languages.
These work because South Carolina doesn't have to "police the internet", instead things like FBI takedowns work, countries spend a lot of money on targeting trafficking organisations, and because companies like Twitter/Facebook/etc have some respect for national governments where they want to be able to conduct business.
What are SC going to do in this case? I guess they could prosecute sales of ads for these websites by companies based in SC, or maybe prosecute hosting providers in SC who are hosting these sites, but these are pretty weak actions.
Unless a large number of other governments get behind them, or they decide to build a Great Firewall of South Carolina this is going to have roughly zero effect.
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#13> For the NRLC, which wrote the model legislation, limiting communication is a key part of the strategy to aggressively enforce laws restricting abortion. “The whole criminal enterprise needs to be dealt with to effectively prevent criminal activity,” Jim Bopp, the group’s general counsel, wrote in a July 4 memo, comparing the group’s efforts to fighting organized crime.
This basically tells you everything you need to know. These people want to put women in jail and they don't care about niceties like "inter-state commerce" because in their mind they're fighting Al Capone. I hope commenters on here stop minimizing what these groups are trying to achieve. The reversal or Roe was not about "kicking it back to the states", it was the first step in trying to make abortion access illegal nationwide.
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends almost wholly on how the state Constitution was written. As long as it doesn't fall afoul of the US Constitution. And it's hardly trying to be North Korea. Hysterics don't help, and actually hurt any rational discussion.
> As long as it doesn't fall afoul of the US Constitution Rather, as long as it doesn't run afoul of the intents and preferences of very conservative US judges.
No post body was provided.
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#15Quoted post unavailable.
Depends almost wholly on how the state Constitution was written. As long as it doesn't fall afoul of the US Constitution. And it's hardly trying to be North Korea. Hysterics don't help, and actually hurt any rational discussion.
Why are we using a 200+ year old document that represented the preferences of maybe 20% of the country to regulate the internet?
That seems so completely absurd, almost like people are turning it into a holy book or fetishizing it.
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#16Not a lawyer but doesn't this have serious 1st amendment problems?
Article gets into this a bit: "Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said the First Amendment and Section 230, a bill that shields internet providers and tech companies from liability for the posts, photos and videos people share on their sites, provide a strong defense in many instances for websites and providers facing lawsuits over hosting information about abortion access."
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#17How is this allowed in light of the interstate commerce clause? SC would have no recourse for web hosts that have no nexus within it's borders? Are they going to start to force local ISP's to block out of state hosts?
The goal isn’t whether or not it’s allowed via whatever clause. The goal is to force people to ask themselves “do you want to be made an example of to prove it”.
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends almost wholly on how the state Constitution was written. As long as it doesn't fall afoul of the US Constitution. And it's hardly trying to be North Korea. Hysterics don't help, and actually hurt any rational discussion.
Why are we using a 200+ year old document that represented the preferences of maybe 20% of the country to regulate the internet? That seems so completely absurd, almost like people are turning it into a holy book or fetishizing it.
> Why are we using a 200+ year old document
Because it’s worked. The alternative, opening up the entire system of government for debate, simultaneously, continuously, predictably tears itself apart in a generation. (That or you wind up with an unwritten Constitution only the elites can decipher.) The Constitution isn’t sacred. But it’s far from worthless as a basis of our society.
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#19How is this allowed in light of the interstate commerce clause? SC would have no recourse for web hosts that have no nexus within it's borders? Are they going to start to force local ISP's to block out of state hosts?
The interstate commerce clause was hollowed out and left undefended[0]. Go on Reddit/Twitter a you can find a bunch of people crying about abortion who were previously making fun of "StAteS RiGhtS". We tried to warn them but nobody wanted to listen.
Re: South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion
#20Just waiting for that batshit bounty law (in Texas) to spread to other states. Basically, any citizen can sue anyone if they suspect aiding or abetting an abortion. There are seemingly no recourses either, for the defendant. If successful, the plaintiff can be awarded up to $10k - therefore a bounty law.
So by that logic, you should be able to sue the owner of a website - as long as it is within the state, because they're aiding and abetting a person with her abortion, by providing the knowledge?