Web-hosting service GoDaddy announced Friday that it would no longer host an abortion-tracking website created by Texas Right to Life to help enforce the state’s ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
The company said in a statement Friday that it notified prolifewhistleblower.com that it was in violation of the service’s terms of service and therefore had 24 hours to change providers, according to CNBC.
GoDaddy reportedly told The Verge that the site violated “multiple provisions” of its Terms of Service including a provision banning the collection or harvest of any user content or any non-public or personally identifiable information about another user or any other person or entity without their express prior written consent.
Soon after the provider’s announcement on Friday, Texas Right to Life said that it planned to have the website restored within 24 to 48 hours.
“@GoDaddy wants to cancel our website, ProLifeWhistleblower.com. Too bad for the mob: We will not be silenced. Anti-Lifers hate us because we’re winning. We’re transferring our assets to another provider and will have the site restored within 24-48 hours. Come back soon,” the group wrote in a tweet.
The Verge later reported that Epik, a provider that has stepped in to save other sites including Gab, Parler and 8chan, is now listed as the registrar for prolifewhistleblower.com. The site reportedly tried to use Digital Ocean as a hosting provider first but could have also been in violation of that provider’s rules, according to Ars Technica.
Texas’ new law prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected and allows private citizens to enforce the measure. Though patients may not be sued, any individual can sue the people “knowingly” assisting the procedure, including doctors, those paying for the abortion, and clinic workers.
Plaintiffs in litigation cases resulting from the law’s implementation can earn up to $10,000 in damages.
Texas Right to Life launched the whistleblower site in an attempt to collect anonymous tips about providers who could be in violation of the law.
The group’s vice president, Elizabeth Graham, told Newsy on Thursday that it is not seeking information on women who have abortions.
Source: National Review
