The Texas Heartbeat Act came into effect on September 1st, 2021. It’s a controversial new law that prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy—the supposed amount of time that a fetus’ first “heartbeat” is recorded.
It’s created another massive division across the country due to it being one of the most extreme anti-abortion laws enacted. The time frame is so short that many women won’t even realize they’re pregnant, by which time they’d be branded a criminal for choosing to abort.
To support the ban, a pro-life group named ‘Texas Right to Life’ has set up an anonymous tipline website for others to report suspected offenders and those involved with the process. However, many have condemned the new law and this group, and they weren’t going to stay quiet about it.
Local Texans have sent out a rallying cry across the internet to fight back, and the internet has answered. In an act of online guerilla warfare, people have taken to spamming the website with memes, fake tip-offs, and other “content” to waste the group’s time, resources and otherwise just troll them. Bored Panda has highlighted some key moments (and hilarious ones) from the battle.
The 'Texas Right to Life' group has created a website for others to tip-off suspected lawbreakers
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Bored Panda spoke to Aimee Arrambide, the Executive Director of Avow—a non-profit organization that works to secure unrestricted abortion access for every Texan. They believe that everyone should have access to safe and legal abortion, but their work has been disrupted immensely by the Texas Heartbeat Act.
Aimee told Bored Panda what is being done to resolve the issue and help people affected by the ban. She said, “This bill is unconstitutional and an affront to the judicial system. Texans will keep fighting for access to abortion care.”
“There are several court challenges making their way through the judicial system but in the meantime, we are directing people to Need Abortion. It will have the most up-to-date resources on where they can get abortion care, and how they can find funding to help them pay for the procedure and other logistical support.”
What women do with their bodies is their choice and they should have control over it too. The case for abortion can be made if the mother is mentally or physically unprepared for carrying a child, or if the pregnancy is the result of a crime such as child sex abuse or rape. Aimee shared her thoughts on this matter and offered a disturbing thought. She said, “We expect thousands of Texans will be forced to carry their pregnancy to term and give birth against their will.”
She also explained how it will affect those struggling in society the most. She said that: “abortion access will be even more difficult for our most marginalized communities: people of color, trans and non-binary people, and undocumented people.”
Aimee urged people to help support those who are in difficulty at this time and told us, “Please follow the organizations on the ground in Texas. We are asking that people donate to the Texas Abortion Funds because they are trying to close the gap for those that have a hard time accessing abortion care. We are also asking people to donate to Avow so that we can elect abortion rights champions to the Texas Legislature.”
However, online activists realized they could fight back against the group
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And trolled them with memes and other spam content
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@colethesciencedude had an idea to disrupt the group's efforts
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Image credits: ksccostello
Image credits: ksccostello
Image credits: ksccostello
Image credits: ksccostello
Others decided to follow suit with his idea
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And let their artist licenses run wild on their own fake tip-offs
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@black_madness21 had a similar idea to spam fake reports using scripting code
Image credits: b_denum
Image credits: b_denum
Bored Panda also spoke to Sean Black (a.k.a. @black_madness21) — that very same, very technical, and very handsome person above. Sean explained the initial inspiration for the bot and the video, and he said, "I first got the idea when a mutual of mine, @victoriahammett posted a video about the tipline."
His video currently has 1.3M views on TikTok and he told us what the response has been like. He said, "The reaction to the video has been largely positive. Support has been coming in from all over the country, especially in Texas, so it shows that there is staunch opposition to this bill."
Sean will continue to support the cause against the bill and told us what he thinks on the matter: "Many of us believe that it’s a direct attack on women's bodily autonomy. So, if there is anything I could do to oppose that, then that’s the thing I’ll do."