Pregnant Woman Fighting Carpool Lane Ticket Following Roe v. Wade Overturn, Says Unborn Child Should Count as Passenger
In the wake of the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade, a 32-year-old pregnant woman living in Texas is using the state's law against itself after receiving a ticket for violating HOV lane rules.
According to NBC-Dallas Fort Worth, Brandy Bottone of Plano, Texas, was pulled over by a Dallas County Sheriff's Department officer on June 29 after she was spotted driving in the HOV lane, otherwise known as the high-occupancy vehicle or carpool lane.
According to reports, the sheriff's deputy pulled Bottone over and gave her a citation, explaining that the law requires drivers who use the HOV lane to have at least two passengers in their car.
"I pointed to my stomach and said, 'My baby girl is right here. She is a person,'" Bottone replied, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Bottone, who was 34 weeks pregnant at the time, told The Dallas Morning News that the officer responded to her by saying he didn't "want to deal with this" and that the law for HOV lane usage requires "two persons outside of the body" in the vehicle.
According to the penal code in Texas, while the state currently recognizes a fetus as a person, the language in the state's Transportation Department's code doesn't reflect this law.
According to NBC Dallas Fort Worth, Battone was slapped with a $215 ticket and was told by deputies that if she fought the ticket in court, it would likely be dismissed.
"This has my blood boiling. How could this be fair? According to the new law, this is a life," Bottone told The Dallas Morning News. "I know this may fall on deaf ears, but as a woman, this was shocking."
The Supreme Court voted to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on June 24 following decades of federal and constitutional protection for reproductive rights.