BIXBY vs DUSTY TRAIL CINEMA: It’s likely to be the “next big case” that comes before the U. S. Supreme Court this fall in the wake of the overturning of Roe vs Wade.
On August 15th, a visibly pregnant Helene Maryellen Bixby attempted to purchase a single ticket to see Top Gun: Maverick at the Dusty Trail Cinema in Waco, Texas. The cashier insisted that Bixby buy two tickets for the film, given that she was carrying a child.
“Under Texas law, it’s an absolute fact that this woman was taking a fully human child-person to the movies,” claimed Travis Ganzer, owner of the Dusty Trail. “So she needs one adult ticket and one children’s ticket.”
“That’s pure bulls**t,” says Bixby. “Trixie isn’t even born yet. Hell, she can’t even SEE the screen!”
“That’s beside the point,” Ganzer responds. “Let’s say someone buys a ticket, takes a seat in the theater, and then sleeps through the movie. We don’t give that person a refund just because they didn’t see the film. The point is that you must buy a ticket if you want to come inside the Dusty Trail Cinema.”
Legal experts expect the dispute to end up in the lap of the Supreme Court. According to Georgetown Law Professor Wendell Heggs, “this case could be decided either way, but what we do know is that Justice Amy Coney Barrett has, on numerous occasions, shared her belief that — from the moment of conception — a pre-born baby can see, with close to 20/20 vision, images and objects on the other side of the stomach wall of its mother, including a movie screen.”