Pregnant Texas woman fighting HOV citation claims officer told her she’d win if she fought ticket

Brandy Bottone, a pregnant Plano, Texas, resident who is fighting a citation for driving in the HOV lane, appeared on CNN Newsroom With Pamela Brown Sunday, where she spoke about the moment she was ticketed. She believes that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade means that her unborn child should be seen legally as a separate person.

“I kind of was in shock,” Bottone said, “and I was like, ‘Well, in light of everything that’s happened, and I’m not trying to make a huge political stance here, but do you understand that this is a baby?’ And he kind of just brushed me off.”

Bottone said that she was instructed to go to a different officer who would write the citation. That officer told her that if she fought it she could win.

“Talked to that officer and he said a similar thing,” Bottone said, “and he said, ‘Ma’am, this is what you’re getting cited for, and honestly, if you go and fight this, I’m sure it’ll get dropped.’”

The Texas penal code and its traffic laws don’t align when considering who can and can’t be recognized as a person. After the incident with Bottone went viral, Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison, a Republican, vowed to introduce legislation that would specifically recognize fetuses as people. But that will be too late to help Bottone in her current situation.

“Boiled my blood that not only did I get dismissed, I didn’t have a conversation about it, but I also now just wasted my time,” Bottone said. “And I’m gonna have to waste my time July 20 fighting a ticket that I feel that I shouldn’t have gotten.”

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