toxic male

Josh Hawley wants to protect forced birthing centers and churches from hate crimes

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Josh Hawley is deeply concerned about forced birthing centers and churches that are being attacked by “radical leftists” in the aftermath of the the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, so he just introduced a new hate crimes bill to protect them.

The anti-LGBTQ senator from Missouri has authored the Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act, which aims to “protect these centers and houses of worship from radical pro-abortion activists’ campaign of violence, destruction, and intimidation.”

Related: Josh Hawley wants to force women to have babies and make adoption easier… just not for gay people

Hawley, who famously saluted armed insurrectionists outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, hopes to achieve this by:

Increasing criminal penalties from a misdemeanor to a felony for first-time offenses, and increasing the criminal fine from $10,000 to $25,000

Guaranteeing that pregnancy resource centers and religious facilities that successfully sue will receive no less than $20,000 (a $10,000 increase)

Imposing a 7-year mandatory minimum when attacks involve arson (up from a 5-year mandatory minimum)

“The Biden Administration has turned a blind eye while radical leftists attack pregnancy care centers and houses of worship,” he said in a press release. “And now left-wing politicians are trying to shut them down. It’s time to put an end to the attacks and get tough on thugs who engage in violence, arson, and other means of destruction.”

(For the record: These so-called “pregnancy care centers” Hawley is referring to aren’t actual healthcare facilities. They are run by religious groups, don’t follow HIPAA rules, and often don’t even have licensed healthcare workers on site. They merely exist to talk vulnerable people out of having abortions without providing any actual resources beyond “thoughts and prayers”.)

Related: Josh Hawley says Clarence Thomas is a victim of misogyny and we’re all a little dumber now

Interesting, just last year, Hawley was the lone senator to vote against a bill aimed at combating hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was sponsored by Mazie Hirono, passed in the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 94-1 vote. At the time, Hawley said he opposed the bill because it “raises big free speech questions.”

“My big problem with Sen Hirono’s bill that Senate voted on today is that it turns the federal government into the speech police–gives government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it,” he tweeted.

Hawley has also routinely opposed any sort of protections of LGBTQ people.

He is against the Equality Act, which aims to expand existing civil rights protections for queer people, criticized the Supreme Court decision banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, and believes adoption agencies should have the right to discriminate against same-sex couples.

Evidently, in Hawley’s warped mind, it’s OK to hate Asians and LGBTQ people, but opposing extreme anti-abortion religious groups should be a crime punishable up to seven years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Here’s what folx on Twitter are saying about Hawley’s new hate crimes bill…

While you’re here, watch Hawley get schooled by law professor Khiara Bridges after he made transphobic remarks during last week’s hearing on “Post-Roe America”:

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