A Texas sheriff has vowed not to “persecute” women seeking an abortion while blasting Supreme Court justices for trying to impose their “supposed morals” on the country.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar wrote in a Facebook post that as a father of two “beautiful and intelligent young women”, he would defend their ability to do “what they feel is right with their own bodies and to love whomever they choose”.
“As their Dad, I have no control over their adult bodies. As their Sheriff, it is absolutely none of my business,” he said in a post after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v Wade that has since gone viral.
“I will not persecute Texas women or anyone else pursuing those same rights. Shame on the Supreme Court and the bureaucrats in Washington D.C. and Austin who are attempting to impose their own supposed morals on others.
“They will not use my badge or the colour of my office to do so. My job is chasing predators, rapists, and human traffickers, not someone exercising a right,” he continued.
After the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v Wade last week, Texas attorney-general Kan Paxton said the state’s 2021 trigger ban for abortions in nearly all cases would go into effect in 30 days.
Mr Paxton has said he would prosecute corporations that pay for employees to travel interstate to access abortion care.
Sheriff Salazar added that the same leaders who were enacting laws based on their religious beliefs had failed to protect school children from shootings.
“If it’s religion those career politicians would like to enforce, then they should remember that there are many other commandments in scripture that they themselves have very publicly chosen to ignore.
“If it’s truly about protecting children, how about starting with the ones in our schools?” he added in a pointed reference to the recent school massacre at Uvalde.
Bexar County in south Texas has a population of two million, and includes the city of San Antonio.
