The big news that kicked off this week was that the Supreme Court set Thursday to hear oral arguments over whether or not Donald Trump should be kicked off the ballot per the 14th Amendment, which bars those who have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the government from holding office. What got a lot less attention was the announcement of which lawyer would argue on Trump's behalf: former Texas solicitor general Jonathan Mitchell. Reproductive rights activists sure sat up and took notice of the mention of Mitchell. He is one of the most odious men in the entire anti-abortion world, which is quite an achievement, considering the misogyny that fuels that movement.
Mitchell earned this "worst of the worst" title by being the architect behind the Texas "bounty hunter" law, which adds a level of creative sadism to abortion bans that would make the villain in the "Saw" movies envious. There have been so many vicious abortion bans passed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 that readers could be forgiven for forgetting how ugly the Texas law is. To recap: Beyond just banning abortion, the Mitchell-penned law offers a $10,000 bounty to any person who sues someone who "aids and abets" an abortion.
