If a Fetus Has Been Declared a Human Being, Why Doesn't Texas' Vehicle Code Agree?

[army judge]

Jurisdiction

Texas

PLANO, TEXAS, USA — Brandy Bottone, a pregnant mother from Plano, Texas, is using Texas' abortion ban and the overturning of Roe v. Wade to uphold that her baby girl is a valid second passenger in the high-occupancy lane.

On June 29, Bottone was driving on her way to pick up her son. She decided to take the HOV lane on U.S. Highway 75 South as she was pinched with time but as she exited the lane, she was pulled over by the police, Dallas Morning News reported.

HOV rules require there be at least one other passenger in the car.

Soon after peeking into her car, the officer asked if anyone else was with her. To his surprise, Bottone said yes and pointed at her 34-week-pregnant belly.

"My baby girl is right here. She is a person," Bottone said in Dallas Morning News interview.

Bottone said to the officer that, with everything going on with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, her baby is a living child. Nonetheless, the officer insisted there must be two people "outside the body" and she received a $275 citation.

The Texas woman said she doesn't believe the state should have it both ways, according to Dallas Morning News. Though Texas penal code recognizes an unborn child as a person, the state's transportation code doesn't, specify the same.

Bottone's court date is July 20 and she said she plans to fight the ticket in court.
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Texas pregnant woman argues baby is second passenger in HOV lane | kcentv.com
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[justblue]

 

[adjusterjack]

That ought to go up to the US Supreme Court.

 

[justblue]

That ought to go up to the US Supreme Court.

I agree.

 

[retic]

So, cite her because the kid isn't in a child safety seat?

PENAL CODE CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

(26) "Individual" means a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.

 

[justblue]

So, cite her because the kid isn't in a child safety seat?

PENAL CODE CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

(26) "Individual" means a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.

Baby was "strapped in".

 

[Tax Counsel]

That ought to go up to the US Supreme Court.

It won't ever get there. The case is purely one of state law, and the US Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over state law matters. That's for the state's highest court to do.

 

[army judge]

So, cite her because the kid isn't in a child safety seat?

PENAL CODE CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

(26) "Individual" means a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.

The child is very likely in the safest place, beloved place, in the best seat any human being could ever sit or lie, in her/his mother's womb.

 

[army judge]

Baby was "strapped in".

Darn tootin', a blessed gift from God Almighty. Amen...

 

[cbg]

I hope she wins. You can't have it both ways; either a fetus is a human being or it isn't. If it is, then she is in the right (and we won't even go into the question of child support if the mother is unmarried). If it's not then...

 

[Paddywakk]

I hope she wins. You can't have it both ways; either a fetus is a human being or it isn't. If it is, then she is in the right (and we won't even go into the question of child support if the mother is unmarried). If it's not then...

Actually, if she's right then she had two people sitting in the same seat using the same seat belt and should be ticketed

 

[stealthy1]

Good for her. I hope she wins, too. Then someone can insist on claiming a fetus on their tax return, file for child support, etc.

 

[Tax Counsel]

Then someone can insist on claiming a fetus on their tax return...

The expecting mother could try that, but it would fail since a fetus is not eligible to be claimed as a dependent on a tax return. The child has to have a Social Security number, and to get the SSN the parent needs to show the child is a citizen of the US, which requires either a birth certificate or passport. Note that in the U.S. there are two ways become a citizen: either being born in the U.S. (the place of conception is irrelevant) or being naturalized. Thus, a fetus is not a US citizen until it is born. Note that whether the fetus is a person is not the issue here, so the recent US Supreme Court decision wouldn't change the answer here.

...file for child support, etc.

At least one state allowed for orders of child support before birth even before Roe was overturned. I don't think anyone here will be much surprised that that state is California. That would seem to clash with the state's liberal abortion laws, applying much the same kind of logic you did here.

 

[Zigner]

Mom is an occupant of the car.
(Unborn) kiddo is an occupant of mom, not the car.