A PREGNANT TEXAS WOMAN DRIVING IN A HOV LANE TOLD POLICE HER UNBORN CHILD WAS CONSIDERED...

A pregnant Texas woman driving in a HOV lane told police her unborn child was considered a passenger Is an unborn fetus a human in the eyes of Texas traffic laws? A pregnant Dallas area woman discussed this with police officers after she was recently cited for driving alone in the HOV lane. According to a Friday afternoon article by Dave Lieber of the Dallas Morning News. Lieber reports that Plano resident Brandy Bettone was driving along US Highway 75 on her way to pick up her son when she ended up in a checkpoint facing a citation for using the high occupancy vehicle lane while alone in her car. "I was driving to pick up my son. I knew I couldn"t be a minute late. so I took the VOM lane." Bettone told Lieber. "As I was coming out of the VMO. there was a checkpoint at the end of the lane. exit. I braked hard and was pulled over by the police." Bettone said officers asked her if there were any other occupants inside her vehicle. Pregnant with a daughter. Bettone said told officers her unborn child was inside the vehicle with her. according to Lieber."I pointed to my stomach and said. "My little girl is right there. She"s a person."" Bettone said. However. the officers weren"t buying him. "He said. "Oh. no. There must be two people outside the body."" Bettone spoke with several officers during his meeting . she told Lieber. One seemed indifferent. Bettone claimed. while another gave her a citation and told her to challenge it in court to have it thrown out. "Kind of m "rejected when I mentioned it was a living child. after all that"s going on with the cancellation of Roe v. Wade. "So I don"t know why you don"t see that." I said.” Bettone explained. "He was like. "I don"t want to deal with this... Ma"am. that means two people outside of the body." Bettone ended up receiving a $215 citation and instructions from the issuing officer suggesting that if she fought her. she would most likely be dropped. According to Lieber. the Dallas County Sheriff"s Department declined to release a statement on the citation or defense of Bettone"s pregnancy. In Texas. all abortions are now illegal following the Supreme Court"s overturning of Roe and the pending enactment of state laws on the practice. Prior to the High Court"s decision. all abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy were prohibited by the Texas Heartbeat Act. That earlier measure had been closely modeled on language crafted by Christian anti abortion group Faith2Action Ministries. which defined the presence of a fetal heartbeat as a marker of "an unborn human individual." according to The Texas Tribune. Bettone said she does not plan to pay her fine for the incident. "I will fight." she said. For the latest news and the best from Chron. sign up for our daily newsletter here. #news


(news)(pregnant)(Texas)(woman)(driving)(lane)(told)(police)(unborn)(child)(considered)(passenger)