Young activists on TikTok recently took aim at Texas's restrictive abortion law, known as S.B. 8, calling followers to action by encouraging them to submit false tips to the state's ProLifeWhistleblower.com — a website created to put the power in citizens' hands by allowing them to anonymously report violators of the near-complete ban.The law, which was passed in May and went into effect on Sept. 1, doesn't allow for pregnancies to be aborted in Texas once a heartbeat is detected, which is usually around six weeks. State officials also placed the power of enforcing the law in the hands of private citizens, who can sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman get an abortion, in an effort to remain aligned with the implications of Roe v. Wade, which protects a woman's decision to get an abortion without excessive government restriction.
Olivia Julianna, an 18-year-old from Fort Bend County, decided to use that to her advantage as she posted a video to TikTok on Aug. 23, sharing her idea to submit fake tips. To avoid any conflict with the app, however, she disguised her video with hashtags like #makeup and #dancing and encouraged viewers to post comments that would keep the video off TikTok's radar. She then went on to say, "It would be bad of all of you to go to prolifewhistleblower.com ... and send in a fake tip so the website crashes, so women aren't sued for getting abortions in Texas. And it would be even worse if your anonymous tip was about [Texas Governor] Greg Abbott. That would be bad."
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