She did not confirm whether she was for or against the Roe V Wade ruling
A pregnant woman in Texas has argued that her unborn baby should count as a second passenger in her vehicle after she was hit with a ticket.
Police pulled over Brandy Bottone from Plano on June 29 after she drove in a lane designated for high-occupancy vehicles. According to NBC, the HOV lane requires drivers to have at least one passenger.
The 32-year-old has argued that her unborn baby constitutes a passenger because “My baby girl is right here. She is a person.”
“Two people outside of the body,” the officer replied.
However, in the wake of Roe V Wade being overturned on June 24, Bottone argued that “this counts as a baby” under Texas penal code.
“And then I said, ‘Well [I’m] not trying to throw a political mix here, but with everything going on, this counts as a baby,'” she explained.
That said, according to The Dallas Morning News, the officer didn’t “want to deal with this” and maintained that HOV lanes required “two persons outside the body.”
While Texas law now recognises a fetus as its own person, it appears that the legislator does not apply to matters of transportation.
Deputies further explained that the case would likely be dismissed if Bottone were to fight the ticket but the soon-to-be mother will challenge the fine.
“This has my blood boiling. How could this be fair? According to the new law, this is a life,” she further explained. “I know this may fall on deaf ears, but as a woman, this was shocking.”
When questioned on whether she supports the recent law change or whether she identifies as pro-choice, Bottone seemingly paused to choose her words carefully.
“I feel like if there’s a pro-woman movement, that I would love to be part of that,” She told CNN.
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- Satanic Temple to challenge Supreme Court abortion decision as it violates religious freedom
