# Texas Governor Abbott has the secret to stopping all rape and has decided to let it continue **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 8, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309 "2021-09-08T12:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/1 "2021-09-08T12:58:02Z")
In defending the Texas abortion law against the charge that it makes no exception for rape or incest (which is probably also rape, because no one is thinking about consenting adults when they mention the incest exception), he says the law doesn’t need that exception because they will stop the rapists. I think stopping rapists is a wonderful idea! I wonder why no one has done it before. Why hasn’t Abbott done it already? It boggles the mind. Here’s one of a ton of available cites: > **[Abortion law doesn't need to cover rapes because Texas' goal is to eliminate...](https://abc13.com/texas-news-abortion-law-gov-greg-abbott-on-to-stop-rape-says/11007153/)** > > Texas' abortion law prohibits abortions once a heartbeat can be detected and also does not make exceptions for rape or incest. What an flaming evil asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/2 "2021-09-08T13:04:31Z")
I, for one, think it’s terribly brave that Abbott is willing to take personal responsibility and blame for every rape to occur in Texas from this point forward. That’s what’s happening, right? Ya know what they need? A law that allows private citizens to personally sue anybody they think is either trying to commit rape or anybody helping facilitate sexual assault. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/3 "2021-09-08T13:07:54Z")
Maybe a law allowing anyone to sue the governor for any rapes going forward, since he has said he’ll put a stop to them. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/4 "2021-09-08T14:14:42Z")
Oh and if somehow it happens anyway, it’s ok. He assures women they have 6 weeks to deal with any pregnancies from rapes, showing his utter disdain for and lack of empathy, medical knowledge, and common decency. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/5 "2021-09-08T14:31:58Z")
I’m assuming that Abbott is simply going to remove rape from the criminal statutes, therefore eliminating the crime of rape. If you are not arresting anyone for rape, or prosecuting anyone for rape, then obviously rape has been stopped! Easy Peasy! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/6 "2021-09-08T14:38:21Z")
I think he’ll have to start patrolling the backseats of cars and college dormitories. Only like 30% of rapes are done by strangers. Although, given that Abbott is an evil bastard, he probably doesn’t consider spousal or date rape to be real “rape rape.” ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/7 "2021-09-08T15:05:41Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m assuming that Abbott is simply going to remove rape from the criminal statutes Maybe this is how the conservatives come around the other side. Eliminate police departments or reassign them all to traffic duty. Suddenly there aren’t any criminal arrests or investigations. No crime! Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/8 "2021-09-08T15:39:01Z")
Not too far off — pretty sure there’s some fine fellers down in Texas (or Idaho, or Florida) who’d figure that as far as actual crime fighting the police can’t beat a bunch of Good Guys With Guns. Let daddy or big brother gather friends and neighbors with ARs and rope, to deal with anyone desecrating the young lady’s honor w/o asking them for her hand first. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/9 "2021-09-08T15:43:35Z")
I posted this in the other thread but it bears repeating. The six weeks is from the first day of the last menses which means that women only have four weeks from conception (ie rape) to obtain an abortion. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/10 "2021-09-08T16:25:51Z")
Also, as I’ve learned, the “heartbeat” that these laws target isn’t a heartbeat at all. It’s basically a special effect by the sonogram machine. The fetus or zygote or whatever it is at that stage doesn’t have a heart yet. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/11 "2021-09-08T16:49:16Z")
It’s not just the sonogram. There is electrical activity at the node that will eventually develop into a heart. So, yes, ‘heartbeat’ is fanciful and exaggerated vastly beyond recognition. There’s no heart and there’s no beat but there is the analogue. And that’s enough of a relationship to fact for a bunch of con artists to blow up into bullshit the gullible rubes who vote for them will swallow gladly and come back asking for more. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/12 "2021-09-08T17:04:59Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m assuming that Abbott is simply going to remove rape from the criminal statutes, therefore eliminating the crime of rape. If you are not arresting anyone for rape, or prosecuting anyone for rape, then obviously rape has been stopped! “Come on, now. Boys will be boys! That lady gave consent by wearing that skirt.” ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/13 "2021-09-08T17:09:22Z")
How dare this asshole talk about rape as if he’s got the power to stop it. I just ‘can’t’ with these gullible people. There’s little to no nuance to their thought process. Dead “baby” = bad. That’s all it means to them. Speaking of, (potential,) rapists, fuck Kavanaugh too. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/14 "2021-09-08T17:44:25Z")
Does the law actually define “heartbeat”? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/15 "2021-09-08T17:47:01Z")
I wonder something: We know that Abbott is a cripple. And yes, I know that calling someone a “cripple” is seriously disrespectful. In this case, disrespect is intended and deliberate. And I think I understand that paraplegics, depending on the details of their case, may be entirely unable to engage in sexual activity, or to have any sensations “down there”. It is one way for incels to be incels. So I wonder: Is Abbott a raging angry incel, due to his disability, and now taking revenge against the universe for it? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/16 "2021-09-08T17:49:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I wonder something: We know that Abbott is a cripple. I prefer the term “Ethically Challenged”. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/17 "2021-09-08T17:54:44Z")
[Yeah, it does](https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB8/id/2395961). For purposes of the statute, it includes ‘cardiac activity’, which is what would cover things at the very earliest stages when there wouldn’t be a well defined cardiac organ, much less something that has regular contractions. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/18 "2021-09-08T17:56:28Z")
Sonofabitch. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/19 "2021-09-08T17:57:57Z")
These folks are evil, not stupid. The ones near the top anyway. The bottom feeders are both. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309/20 "2021-09-08T18:05:31Z")
Yeah, that law is actually a pretty creative way to bypass judicial review. I just wish he’d tell us how he’s going to stop all the rapists. Why is he keeping this to himself? Does he want women to continue getting raped? (Yes, apparently) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-governor-abbott-has-the-secret-to-stopping-all-rape-and-has-decided-to-let-it-continue/950309.md?page=2)