TEXAS, USA — Brandy Bottone, a pregnant mother from Plano, Texas, is using Texas' abortion ban and the overturning of Roe v. Wade to uphold that her baby girl is a valid second passenger in the high-occupancy lane.
On June 29, Bottone was driving on her way to pick up her son. She decided to take the HOV lane on U.S. Highway 75 South as she was pinched with time but as she exited the lane, she was pulled over by the police, Dallas Morning News reported.
HOV rules require there be at least one other passenger in the car.
Soon after peeking into her car, the officer asked if anyone else was with her. To his surprise, Bottone said yes and pointed at her 34-week-pregnant belly.
"My baby girl is right here. She is a person," Bottone said in Dallas Morning News interview.
Bottone said to the officer that, with everything going on with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, her baby is a living child. Nonetheless, the officer insisted there must be two people "outside the body" and she received a $275 citation.
The Texas woman said she doesn't believe the state should have it both ways, according to Dallas Morning News. Though Texas penal code recognizes an unborn child as a person, the state's transportation code doesn’t, specify the same.
Bottone's court date is July 20 and she said she plans to fight the ticket in court.