S.T.O.P. Condemns Texas’ Nationwide License Plate, Abortion Tracking

The civil rights group noted that this marked a new chapter in national abortion criminalization.

View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns Texas’ Nationwide License Plate, Abortion Tracking (New York, NY, 5/30/2025) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a privacy and civil rights group, condemns Texas police’s abuse of license plate readers to track an abortion patient. First reported by 404 Media, a Forth Worth-area officer searched 83,000 automated license plate readers using software from Flock, including in states where abortion is strongly protected. The civil rights group noted that this marked a new chapter in national abortion criminalization. SEE: 404 Media - A Texas Cop Searched License Plate Cameras Nationwide for a Woman Who Got an Abortion https://www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-searched-license-plate-cameras-nationwide-for-a-woman-who-got-an-abortion/ Daily Mail - Texas cops use dystopian surveillance method to track down woman trying to leave state for abortion https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-14763599/texas-cops-johnson-county-cameras-abortion-track-surveillance.html “We may say that some states are ‘pro-choice’, but increasingly abortion care is becoming a crime across America,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Prior to Roe, Texas cops could never have enforced their abortion bans nationally, but since Dobbs, police have turned to more and more tracking to enforce their bans out of state. This isn’t just an attack on reproductive health, this isn’t just an attack on the sovereignty of pro-choice states, it’s a pending Constitutional crisis. This raises fundamental questions about the limits of state power that haven’t been tested since the Civil War.” In 2022, prior to the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, the civil rights group released Pregnancy Panopticon: Abortion Surveillance After Roe, detailing the coming threat digital surveillance poses to abortion seekers. In 2023, S.T.O.P. released Roadblock to Care: Barriers to Out of State Travel for Abortion and Gender Affirming Care, detailing surveillance of patients seeking out-of-state abortions and gender-affirming care. The report details how law enforcement can track travel, including through automated license plate readers. SEE: Report - Roadblock to Care: Barriers to Out of State Travel for Abortion and Gender Affirming Care https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2023/7/18/stop-report-details-surveillance-threats-to-abortion-gender-affirming-care-travel?rq=roadblock%20to%20care Report – Pregnancy Panopticon: Abortion Surveillance After Roe https://www.stopspying.org/pregnancy-panopticon The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   -- END -- Copyright © 2025 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.