If the Texas Republican Taliban has its way, there will be public whippings in the plaza of Planned Parenthood workers, re-education camps for women seeking abortions, and textbooks in the public schools teaching the ultra-conservative version of family values.
Is there anything more bizarre than Gov. Rick Perry summoning the Texas Legislature to meet in special session — which implies emergency state business — so a male-dominated political machine can bully anti-abortion legislation into law that society in general and women in particular clearly do not want?
The effort flies in the face of federal law protecting women’s right to choice and credible polls measuring public sentiment on the subject.
The special session originally was called to address highway funding and redistricting, but once Perry called back legislators he played the anti-abortion card, betting he could restart an initiative that busted in the regular session.
Never underestimate the political aspirations of Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and a phalanx of other conservative Republicans who have felt the whip of the tea party and evangelical extremists, and have eagerly agreed to meet them on the far margins of the political spectrum.
This special session is not about you. It’s about them. Oh, Perry, Dewhurst and others mouth the party’s official talking point: this is about protecting women’s and children’s health, whatever that means, given the party’s consistent efforts to undermine Children’s Protective Services and other state-funded social services. But a message sent on Twitter by Dewhurst Wednesday stated the real reason: it’s all about ending abortion in Texas. The tweet even linked to a map of targeted Planned Parenthood clinics in the state. Read more here from Texas Public Radio.
This bill is about the political ambitions of Perry and Dewhurst. Both covet higher office. Both suffered humiliating political defeats in the last election cycle. Perry earned the dunce’s cap on national television as he floundered in Republican primary debates before pulling out after racking up single digit returns at the polls. Dewhurst and his own seemingly bottomless pit of millions couldn’t beat a tea party neophyte named Ted Cruz who now occupies the U.S. Senate seat coveted by the lieutenant governor.
Passing one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws in Texas is not about the health and welfare of women in Texas. It’s all about the next political cycle and making sure there is record to run on the next time fringe voters convene for the Republican primaries.
Last week was an extraordinary lesson in pseudo-democracy. If anyone thinks public hearings are really about officeholders listening to citizens, rather than necessary exercises letting the rabble blow off steam, consider the actions of the House State Affairs Committee and its chairman, Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, Thursday evening and into the early morning hours Friday. Read the Texas Tribune coverage of the hearing here.
Hundreds of citizens signed up to speak at the hearing, waiting hours and hours on their feet for the opportunity to be heard. Cook abruptly ended the hearing around 4 a.m. with hundreds of people still waiting to participate. When the crowd responded with a chorus of verbal protests, Cook called in state troopers to stand guard as the committee vacated the room. Cook was convinced to return and re-open the hearing, but Friday morning the committee approved House Bill 60, the counterpart legislation, Senate Bill 5 , and a separate House Bill 16, which would outlaw any abortion at 20 weeks gestation.
UPDATE: The Texas House will debate SB5 and HB60 Sunday afternoon at the Texas Capitol. House Gallery doors open at 1 p.m. Debate begins at 2 p.m. and is expected to last for several hours before the voting.
If a bill passes before the special session ends Tuesday evening and is signed into law by Perry, women’s rights groups say many of the state’s existing clinics will be forced to close. Physicians allowed to perform abortions will be limited by new restrictions requiring them have local hospital privileges and to perform the procedure only in ambulatory surgical centers.
The impact of such legislation in San Antonio, inevitably, will be to further limit access to women’s health services, especially for the economically disadvantaged. More children will be born to teen mothers out-of-wedlock. If the 20 week gestation bill passes, more fetuses identified as having major congenital deformities will be carried to full term.
The Express-News reported that teen pregnancies declined in 2012 in Bexar County, according to Metro Health statistics released last month, yet still are nearly 50% more than the national average. Last year there were 2,713 teen births in the county, although the latest figures on the Metro Health website are from 2010-11. Some pages on the site are not functional, and few pages provide young women important family planning information.
The Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is running a campaign, “Tell Rick Perry women are not stupid” that allows individuals who oppose the legislation to send their elected representatives a statement protesting the legislation.
Follow Robert Rivard on Twitter @rivardreport or on Facebook.
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Gov. Perry Pushes Anti-Abortion Legislation in Special Session
Roe vs. Wade’s 40th Anniversary
Ohhhh, the Rivard Report is biased!
He is a duly elected representative of the people. Therefore, I don’t know if you’re right that his agenda is something “society in general…does not want.”
Jessica, if you had been following the Legislature this session you might know better. In poll after poll the general public supports a woman’s right to choose. That’s the bottom line. Women making choices about their own bodies. We should ALL be fighting to keep abortion “Safe, Legal, and RARE.” Simply because the man has been elected does not mean that all people agree with his actions across the board. He is the ringmaster when it comes to gaming our electoral system.
There is no question in the scientific community that babies can feel pain at this point of their growth. They can also survive outside the womb at this point. Gosnell was convicted of murder of babies of this age because he killed them on the wrong side of the vagina. On what basis are you claiming that people of this age are unworthy of protection? What prenatal research can you point to that supports your outrage?
There is certainly a question about fetuses feeling pain at 20 weeks gestation. A quick search of google scholar shows these science papers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2352206/pdf/bmj00561-0039.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1440624/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1417097/pdf/bmjcred00472-0004.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301211500004413
And a quick google search brings up these articles
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/science-house-abortion-ban-fetal-pain
http://discovermagazine.com/2005/dec/fetus-feel-pain#.UcYw5_mTjeg
To summarize the findings for you, one side suggests that the minimum nervous pathways to feel pain aren’t made till 24-26 weeks. Another body of papers suggests no clear answer on when a fetus feel pain, as a response (such as a reflex, or other body change) may not be distinguishable from any other sensation the fetus feels; its brain may not be developed enough to interpret pain. Either way, most conclusions suggest the earliest a fetus can possibly feel pain is 24 weeks, but it might be even later.
So Matthew, based on the research you are trusting, at what stage of development should abortion be illegal?
These papers don’t make an attempt to define what being truly human is. I certainly don’t consider a fertilized egg to be a human in the sense that we are human. The criteria of “feeling pain” doesn’t quite justify humanity either, we kill many animals capable of feeling pain. I don’t consider myself knowledgeable about drawing the line, but I see no reason why the current legal range should be made smaller.
Maybe I’m interpreting the tone of your reply incorrectly, but you seem to suggest that these papers might not be valid sources of science. The National Institute of Health is an extremely trustworthy source.
In most states, the current law allows abortion at any point before the baby exits the birth canal. So if Gasnell had killed the babies before they came out, that would have been legal. But since he killed them after they came out, he’s in jail for murder. Does that make sense to you?
*Gosnell*
Most states do NOT allow abortions at ANY point before the baby exits the birth canal.
http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_OAL.pdf
And yes, I read alot about GOsnell, it does make sense.
So, Matthew, you would be in favor of putting a limit on the age at which fetuses can be aborted in the ten states that have no current limit and since a 21-week old fetus survived we can define “viability” to be 21 weeks gestational age?
Just because he was elected does not mean that the majority agree with his views on abortion.
In that case, they shouldn’t have voted for him!
The majority does not want this so as our duly elected representative he should stop wasting our tax dollars with this special session
So if this law passes, will women who have abortions at 21 weeks be sent to jail?
Mitzi, my understanding is that only the people performing the abortions would be legally culpable.
Excellent article, Bob…..if only unreasonable jerks (like our governor) would read it!
And right on the heels of the news that Texas schools are being given back a large chunk of it’s funding that had been cut. How great would it be to use some of those funds to implement sexual education 🙂
I thought you were going to quit using intentionally inflammatory language. Republican Taliban?
That is the original headline on my opinion piece. It was posted last week, and I stand by it.
I think the republican pro-birth community needs to learn to keep their noses out of other’s vaginas and bedrooms. Last I heard, the christian God didn’t call anyone to judge on his behalf.
Remember the time proven adage, Those without sin cast the first stone. Kind of speaks to glass houses and all.
Perry and his kind will be judged by a far higher power than the people. That I believe. So will those who have made life on earth a living hell.
Well, now I have sufficient reason to move to Montana and become a hermit. Both sides are freakin crazy.