“He said, ‘Well, it’s two bodies out of the body, so that doesn’t count.’ is this a baby?” This determination could have significant implications for health care and fertility issues, including IVF and treatment for women who have miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies. Bottone’s experience also foreshadows future legal battles related to the personhood of a fetus, said Loni Coombs, a former Los Angeles County district attorney. “If we’re talking about a fetus that’s a person, there are a lot of other rights that come with being a person that will be addressed in the courts, like, does my fetus qualify for a tax credit? citizenship? does my fetus qualify for child support ?” he said. “These are all issues that are going to be raised and possibly litigated in court.” Unfortunately for Bottone, her reasoning didn’t convince the officers at the scene, she said. “He just pulled me away and told me to go to the other officer to get my report,” she said. The other officer said similar things and told her, “Honestly, if you’re going to fight it, I’m sure it’s going to go down.” “That made my blood boil, that not only did I get fired and I didn’t talk about it, but now I just wasted my time and I’m going to have to waste my time on July 20th fighting a ticket. I feel like I shouldn’t have taken it,” he said. Bottone did not present her own views on the Supreme Court decision last month. “That’s not why I took the stand I did,” he said. “It just didn’t make sense to me because two different laws didn’t speak the right way.” The HOV lane, an acronym for High Occupancy Vehicle, is a reserved lane used only by vehicles with multiple occupants. The idea is to encourage people to work together and reduce traffic and emissions. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CNN’s Mel Alonso contributed to this report.
