Joy Reid sparks outrage after comparing Texas GOP to the Taliban for 'putting bounties on women' with anti-abortion law

MSNBC host Joy Reid has compared Republicans in Texas to the Taliban for approving a new anti-abortion law that offers a $10,000 ‘bounty’ to private citizens who can sue anyone violating the ban.

The left-leaning cable news anchor on Monday reacted on Twitter to a tweet by Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, who slammed the new abortion law passed in Texas.

'So now Texas Republicans are putting bounties on pregnant women,' Reid tweeted on Monday.

'I almost hate to ask what this benighted party will think of next.'

In the same tweet thread, Reid wrote: 'This is Talibanism. Are Texas conservatives going to be spying on women of childbearing age and turning them in for the bounties?'

MSNBC host Joy Reid sparked outrage online on Monday after she compared Republicans in Texas to the Taliban. Reid was commenting on a new abortion law signed in May by Governor Greg Abbott

The left-leaning cable news anchor on Monday reacted on Twitter to a tweet by Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, who slammed the new abortion law passed in Texas

'So now Texas Republicans are putting bounties on pregnant women,' Reid tweeted on Monday. 'I almost hate to ask what this benighted party will think of next.'

In the same tweet thread, Reid wrote: 'This is Talibanism. Are Texas conservatives going to be spying on women of childbearing age and turning them in for the bounties?'

Reid then wrote in another tweet: 'I mean, what's next, Texas? What's next, GOP...?'

She then included a gif showing images from the Hulu television series The Handmaid's Tale.

The series, which stars Elisabeth Moss, is based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. It tells the story of a totalitarian society in which women are treated as property of the state.

The tweet by Reid prompted agreement from her supporters, while her critics slammed her.

‘Did hackers write this? Because this is stupid even by Joy Reid standards,’ wrote one Twitter user.

The reference to ‘hackers’ stems from a controversy that started in 2018, when 10-year-old tweets and blog posts by Reid surfaced in which she refers to homosexuals as ‘rentboys’ and ‘grimey closet-cases.’

Reid went on the air and denied having written the posts, insisting that hackers were responsible. This has never been proven.

‘Did the FBI ever figure out who hacked your computer?’ tweeted another commenter on Monday.

Another Twitter commenter wrote: ‘You have quite the imagination.’

One of Reid’s detractors on Twitter compared the Texas law to the Biden administration’s plan to go ‘door to door’ to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19

‘Did the FBI ever figure out who hacked your computer?’ tweeted another commenter on Monday

‘Did hackers write this? Because this is stupid even by Joy Reid standards,’ wrote one Twitter user

Another Twitter commenter wrote: ‘You really have issues with reality. Please seek help for your own safety’

One Twitter user called Reid a ‘hack’ for not calling out ‘BLM demanding people dining quietly to raise their fists’ and ‘antifa and the like burning federal buildings and toppling statues’

Another Twitter user pointed out a tweet by the FBI encouraging the public to be on the lookout for ‘homegrown violent extremism’ by observing ‘family members and peers’

One of Reid’s detractors on Twitter compared the Texas law to the Biden administration’s plan to go ‘door to door’ to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Another Twitter commenter wrote: ‘You really have issues with reality. Please seek help for your own safety.’

One Twitter user called Reid a ‘hack’ for not calling out ‘BLM demanding people dining quietly to raise their fists’ and ‘antifa and the like burning federal buildings and toppling statues.’

Another Twitter user pointed out a tweet by the FBI encouraging the public to be on the lookout for ‘homegrown violent extremism’ by observing ‘family members and peers.’

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed the law in May. It bans abortions in Texas before many women even know they are pregnant.

But the law differs singularly from similar efforts nationwide: leaving enforcement to private citizens, who can sue doctors or anyone who helps a woman get an abortion.

The law puts Texas in line with more than a dozen other states that ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, possibly as early as six weeks.

It would take effect in September, but federal courts have mostly blocked states from enforcing similar measures.

But with the Supreme Court this week agreeing to take up a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, abortion rights activists worry that a ruling favorable to the state could lay the groundwork for allowing even more restrictions, including so-called heartbeat bills.

'The life of every unborn child with a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion,' Abbott said in a bill signing at his office.

A controversial anti-abortion law in Texas allows private citizens to file lawsuits of up to $10,000 in damages against abortion providers who perform abortions on women who are pregnant for more than six weeks. The image above is a file photo of a women's health clinic in Fort Worth, Texas

Texas' version is unique in that it prohibits state officials from enforcing the ban.

Instead, it allows anyone - even someone outside Texas - to sue an abortion provider or anyone else who may have helped someone get an abortion after the limit, and seek financial damages of up to $10,000 per defendant.

Critics say that provision would allow abortion opponents to flood the courts with lawsuits to harass doctors, patients, nurses, domestic violence counselors, a friend who drove a woman to a clinic, or even a parent who paid for a procedure.

Before the bill reached Abbott’s desk, abortion rights groups signaled they would challenge the law.

'The goal is clear: to relentlessly attack our reproductive rights until abortion is a right in name only. Passing these bills is not leadership, it is cruelty and extremism,' said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Texas law currently bans abortion after 20 weeks, with exceptions for a woman with a life-threatening medical condition or if the fetus has a severe abnormality.

More than 90 percent of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks of a woman's pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Supreme Court will probably hear the Mississippi case in the fall, with a decision likely in spring 2022.