AOC botches facts in viral tweet attacking Texas abortion law

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"Squad" leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. ,botched the facts while attacking Texas' hotly debated abortion law in a tweet that quickly went viral among progressives. 

Ocasio-Cortez made the claim in a Friday tweet where she appeared to respond to Elon Musk's suggestion that the Democratic Party has moved too far to the left. 

"‘The extreme left is taking over’ WHERE. In Texas, Republicans passed a law allowing rapists to sue their victims for getting an abortion," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter.

OCASIO-CORTEZ WRONGLY SUGGESTS SHE REPRESENTS MORE PEOPLE IN CONGRESS THAN JOE MANCHIN 

"Can anyone name a ‘far left’ policy that extreme implemented anywhere?" she continued. "We can’t even get our party to import cheaper RXs from Canada." The congresswoman ended her tweet with an acronym for "f--- outta here."

While Ocasio-Cortez's tweet quickly received tens of thousands of likes and retweets, it was factually inaccurate.  

The Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as Senate Bill 8, was originally signed into law in May 2021 and took effect in September. The law empowers private citizens to sue anyone suspected of aiding or abetting an abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, usually after six weeks of pregnancy. 

The law is one of the strictest in the nation, and allows individuals to sue a person who facilitates an abortion — such as the doctors that provide them. 

Contrary to Ocasio-Cortez's tweet, however, women who obtain abortions after fetal cardiac activity has been detected are specifically exempted from the law. 

Ocasio-Cortez's office didn't immediately return an email from Fox News Digital asking whether the congresswoman plans to correct the widely-circulated, but inaccurate, tweet. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., spread false information while attacking Texas' recent abortion law on Friday.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A federal court dismissed all challenges Tuesday to a provision in the Texas abortion law. 

The U.S. 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the legal challenge against the six-week abortion ban back to the state Supreme Court with orders to dismiss all challenges.

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In March, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that state medical licensing clinics don't have the authority to enforce the law. Weeks earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the matter, leaving abortion providers with a narrow path to victory and an uphill battle. 

Since taking effect, abortions have plummeted in Texas, one of several states dominated by conservatives that have passed similar restrictions on abortions.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed reporting.