The website of the Texas Republican Party was hacked Saturday by a group claiming to protest the state’s restrictive new abortion law, reported Texas Public Radio. Jon Cooper, a former New York financial adviser to President Joe Biden and ex-President Barack Obama, rushed to applaud the fact on Twitter, exclaiming that the news “made my day”.
Hacking group Anonymous claimed responsibility for the hack, as the website is said to have featured the group’s banner across the top of the page, a Rick Astley music video, and an obscene photo for several hours. It also carried a statement saying the GOP was “taking voices from women to promote theocratic erosion of church/state barriers", according to the outlet.
Anonymous launched “Operation Jane” after the anti-abortion legislation went into effect, targeting web sites purportedly established to identify people assisting those seeking an abortion after six weeks, added Texas Public Radio.
Controversial ‘Heartbeat’ Bill
This comes as the Texas Senate Bill 8, dubbed the "heartbeat bill", effectively bans abortions after six weeks and allows suing abortion clinics or those who help women get abortions in the state. The legislation took effect on September 1 after being passed by the state’s GOP-led Legislature and signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Reproductive health physicians insist the term “fetal heartbeat” used in the legislation is misleading as there is no cardiovascular system or a functional heart six weeks into pregnancy.
Earlier, the US Supreme Court voted 5-4 not to block the law, however, on September 3rd a Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order to protect the state’s abortion clinics from facing lawsuits. A hearing in the case is set for Monday. The US Justice Department (DOJ) on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Texas over the legislation, which President Joe Biden slammed as an "unprecedented assault on a woman’s constitutional rights."
Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press briefing on Thursday that the law is "clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent." He warned it may" become a model" for similar action in other states.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republicans have vowed to defend the new law.
Paxton responded to DOJ's lawsuit, saying on Twitter that the administration should be focusing on the “border crisis, Afghanistan, the economy and countless other disasters” instead of “meddling in states’ sovereign rights."