HOUSTON — The fight over abortion is not slowing down in Texas.
Pro-life advocates say for every day this law is in place, they estimate that’s about 150 abortions that cannot happen in Texas, and they’re celebrating that.
But that celebration has come with its fair share of backlash.
In the days after Texas' new abortion law went into effect, viral videos popped up on social media telling abortion rights supporters how to send fake tips to a pro-life website that allows you to report people facilitating illegal abortions.
Elizabeth Graham, vice president with Texas Right to Life, said people have done that and more.
“They’ve tried to spam our regular website. They've tried to shut down prolifewhistleblower.com. They’ve left terrible prank calls," Graham said.
But while the site did not crash, it has been taken down.
“The platform we were using sent an email saying they were going to shut us down and not host us," Graham said.
Website hosting service GoDaddy has since removed the reporting website, saying it violated GoDaddy’s terms of service, specifically this section:
"You will not collect or harvest (or permit anyone else to collect or harvest) any User Content (as defined below) or any non-public or personally identifiable information about another User or any other person or entity without their express prior written consent."
“We’re just glad that they canceled, because we were able to out them as siding with the abortion crowd, and what’s even better is that we don’t want the abortion affiliated platform hosting a pro-life website," Graham said.
Graham said they’re looking into possible legal action against GoDaddy and are working with other hosting services to get the website back online by Monday.
But abortion rights advocates are celebrating a small win. A temporary restraining order was granted late Friday that shields abortion clinics from whistleblower lawsuits by Texas Right to Life, its legislative director and 100 other people.
But the bottom line is abortions are still banned after 6 weeks, and lawsuits can still be filed by any one else who wants to bring them.
“If the abortion crowd is going to continue to try to silence pro-life allies, they’ve got a long legal road ahead of them," Graham said.
But abortion rights advocates say they’re not backing down.
“We are just beginning the fight. We are exploring all of our available options, and we will do everything we can to continue to fight for our patients access to healthcare," said Melaney Linton, president & CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.