A meme going around social media received the Snopes fact-checking treatment this week, which is telling because truth is becoming stranger than fiction in Texas these days.

Source: Snopes

On September 2, 2021, the day after the country’s strictest abortion law went into effect in Texas, a photograph started circulated on social media that supposedly showed the new “Handmaid’s Tale” uniforms of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

This is not a genuine photograph of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in new “Handmaid” uniforms. This is a digitally edited image that was created to comment on Texas’ new restrictive abortion laws.

This image was created by Twitter user Paul Leigh (notice the watermark in the bottom left) and was originally shared to his account on Sept. 2, 2021.

The “Handmaid cheerleader uniform” image was created by altering a photograph from the television show “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which is based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. The show takes place in a dystopian universe where women have been stripped of their rights and are treated as little more than enslaved breeders. The show is frequently mentioned on social media when talking about real world laws that restrict women’s rights.

pic.twitter.com/VQKFTSmgDx

— Paul Leigh (@Pleightx) September 2, 2021

Others also made a similar comparison.

Good morning, Texas… 😣 #underhiseye pic.twitter.com/iIVbbCELKN

— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) September 1, 2021

pic.twitter.com/38FdsxOd8U

— Ted 😷 (@touchted) September 3, 2021