A pregnant lady in Texas went viral this week with her story about fighting a visitors ticket for driving within the carpool lane with a novel argument that her unborn baby counted as a passenger, and now a legislator is vowing to codify her argument into the state’s reliable transportation code.

Brandy Bottone of Plano, Texas was once riding to pick up her son and took the High-Occupancy Automobile (HOV) lane because she used to be worried about working late, and was pulled over at a Dallas County Sheriff’s checkpoint on the highway exit.

That ended in a memorable dialog, as Bottone shared with the Dallas Morning News. When an officer asked her if there was anyone else in the automotive, Bottone answered, “yes,” and the officer requested “where?”

Bottone pointed to her stomach and mentioned, “My child lady is true here. She is an individual.” The officer was once unconvinced, telling her it had to be “two people outdoor the physique.”

She then argued that the Supreme Court’s contemporary resolution in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, intended that her unborn youngster was a separate residing particular person, and subsequently qualified as a 2nd particular person within the car to allow her to make use of the HOV lane. Another officer told her if she fought the ticket it will “most likely get dropped,” however nonetheless wrote her the $215 citation.

The ticket had her “blood boiling,” she advised the Morning News. “How might this be honest? In keeping with the new law, this can be a lifestyles. I do know this may fall on deaf ears, but as a lady, this was stunning.”

Pamela Brown interviewed Bottone about her ticket on Sunday’s episode of CNN Newsroom, and the soon-to-be mother-of-two explained that she wasn’t essentially seeking to take a political stance on the contentious topic of abortion as professional-lifestyles or pro-choice, but that she would “like to be part of” a “pro-lady motion,” and “it simply didn’t make experience to me why two different laws were not conversing the fitting way.”

At the moment, the Texas Penal Code recognizes an unborn kid as a person, however the textual content of the Texas Transportation Code does now not. That may quickly trade, if Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison, a Republican who represents a suburban district south of Dallas, will get his means.

Saturday evening, Harrison tweeted a hyperlink to an editorial about Bottone’s visitors ticket and promised to introduce a invoice to “clarify” the state statutes. “Unborn babies are individuals (meaning they’re also passengers), and should be treated thus below Texas laws,” wrote Harrison.

Unborn infants are individuals (that means they’re additionally passengers), and should be treated in this case underneath Texas regulations. Will introduce regulation to make clear this. Brandy, preserve fighting that ticket! #txlege https://t.co/ibs7cZl4vd

— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) July 10, 2022

Mediaite reached out to Harrison for remark, however didn’t receive a reply.

Bottone is due in court for a hearing on her ticket on July 20. Her daughter is due on Aug. three. She told the Washington Publish that she was once pissed off that the regulations were “confusing” and “don’t talk the same language,” and hoped that her story would possibly inspire better consistency.

“It wasn’t on account of Roe v. Wade that I hopped within the HOV lane,” mentioned Bottone. “I simply thought of it as me and another person.”

UPDATE 10:40 pm ET: Harrison responded to Mediaite with the next remark: “Texas is a professional-existence state, and I want to be sure unborn babies are protected as individuals all over Texas regulation.”

Texas holds a legislative session each different yr, in peculiar-numbered years, so the earliest such rules might be offered could be the session scheduled to begin on Jan. 10, 2023.

Watch the video above, by the use of CNN.

The submit Texas GOP Representative Vows to Introduce Bill to Make clear Fetuses are Individuals After Pregnant Girl Goes Viral for Getting Ticketed in HOV Lane first appeared on Mediaite.