Taxi drivers swerve clinics in fear of bounty hunters

Taxi drivers in Texas say they will no longer risk taking women to abortion clinics as they face a looming threat from bounty hunters.

New abortion restrictions — the strictest in the US — passed into law last week give any citizen the right to sue anyone who aids an abortion, including Uber drivers who give lifts to pregnant women. Those who sue will receive a $10,000 award and the cost of lawyer’s fees, paving the way for so-called abortion bounty hunters.

Pro-choice campaigners in America’s bitterly divided abortion debate say it will effectively see citizens turned into informants, not unlike the plot of dystopian TV drama The Handmaid’s Tale.

“It’s not worth it, I’m sorry to say,” a driver told The Sunday Telegraph on condition his name was withheld.

“What am I supposed to do, ask a woman how many weeks’ pregnant she thinks she is before accepting the trip? I respect these women’s decision, I really do, but it has become risky for us,” he said. “I can’t afford to lose an expensive lawsuit.”

Texas Right to Life, an antiabortion group, has set up a digital hotline for anonymous tips. An online form allows anyone to submit a “report” of an illegal abortion, and has a section for images to be uploaded.

“This is the time for pro-life lawyers, sidewalk counsellors, activists, and citizens to rally together and defend the most vulnerable in Texas,” the group says on its website.

Reproductive rights advocates and legal experts fear that the plan will lead to groups of abortion “bounty hunters”.