Video Slamming Texas Abortion Law Viewed More Than 1.8M Times

Backlash to Texas' restrictive new abortion law has been swift and passionate, with various politicians, businesses and celebrities decrying it. Now, a new video slamming it has garnered over 1.8 million times.

Going into effect Wednesday, the law bans abortions for pregnancies past six weeks—before many woman even realized they're pregnant—and incentivizes citizens to report anyone involved in helping women get the procedure. The Supreme Court declined to block the measure this week, a move criticized by President Joe Biden.

The video, released Friday and produced in part by author and activist Don Winslow, blasts the "draconian" nature of the law and conservatives who oppose COVID-19 vaccines while imposing harsh restrictions on the right of women to choose.

"Republicans are calling women's bodies 'Host bodies,'" Winslow wrote in a Friday evening tweet sharing the video. "Texas Republicans set up a website to stalk and report women, their families and the doctors who help them. They are waging a war against women."

As of 6 p.m. EST on Saturday, the video, less than two minutes in length, had been viewed at least 1.8 million times, and Winslow's tweet alone had received nearly 30,000 retweets.

"If I am beaten and raped in the state of Texas, I have to give birth to the baby of my rapist," the narrator says in the video's opening. "If I am raped by my father, brother, or uncle, and get pregnant in the state of Texas, I have to give birth to the baby of my family abuser. This new law is so draconian that I can be prosecuted for having an abortion, and so can my doctors, family, and friends who advise, or even the Uber driver who simply drives me to the clinic."

"This is madness," the narrator says later. "The same people who have been protesting and screaming, 'My body, my choice' when it comes to the COVID vaccine are now saying I don't have any control over my own body."

The video also goes on to question why the Texas law would prevent a 12-year-old girl from being mandated to wear a mask in school to protect against COVID-19, but would force her to give birth to a child conceived under any circumstance, including rape or incest.

Winslow has been active as an author of mostly crime fiction since 1991, and is known for titles like Savages, the Neal Carey series, and the Cartel trilogy. He has been outspoken politically in recent years, notably criticizing the presidency of Donald Trump. His Don Winslow Films label previously collaborated with famously left-leaning musician Bruce Springsteen on an anti-Trump short film last October.

Several other Republican-controlled state governments have expressed their intentions to draft and pass anti-abortion bills similar to Texas' law.

Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott has defended the "Heartbeat Act," telling CNBC on Thursday that he believes the state's stance on abortion will attract businesses, not deter them.

"People vote with their feet, and this is not slowing down businesses coming to the state of Texas at all," Abbott said during an appearance on Squawk on the Street. "In fact, it is accelerating the process of businesses coming to Texas."

A number of companies, however, have lashed out at the law, including Lyft, Uber and web hosting service GoDaddy, which gave the whistleblower website associated with the law 24 hours to switch to different provider.