Buying sex will soon be a felony in Texas. Will law enforcement go after the buyers?

[TexasTowelie]

Weeks after Texas Democrats fled the state to avoid casting a ballot on a voting reform bill, pundits are still arguing about whether the legislators’ move was novel.

Whatever the case, Texas lawmakers did do something unprecedented this session: They made Texas the first state to curb the demand for commercial sex with a substantial, punitive measure.

Tucked into H.B. 1540, the Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force’s bipartisan omnibus bill, is a provision that makes sex buying from an adult a felony offense. (Solicitation of a minor was already a felony.)

Ty Bowden, who serves as the associate director of The Net, a Fort Worth anti-trafficking nonprofit, characterized the change as a significant step in the effort to transform the approach of law enforcement to the sex industry and the plight of trafficked individuals.

Read more: https://wacotrib.com/opinion/columnists/cynthia-allen-buying-sex-will-soon-be-a-felony-in-texas-will-law-enforcement-go/article_1f7ccec2-ebe0-11eb-a14c-03a8cfdfdf68.html
(Waco Tribune-Herald)

[Duncanpup]

1. They should

They should go after the men who solicit these women, these poor girls are slaves being trafficked for sex.

[MichMan]

2. It looks like the whole purpose of the law is to criminalize buying sex

If they didn't plan on applying it towards buyers, why pass it in the first place?

How rigorous it will be enforced depends on local priorities and resources. Same as all illegal activities. People are seldom if ever prosecuted for having a joint even though it is illegal in many jurisdictions.