Texas Considers Bill to Ban Almost All Abortions

[marmar]

from Mother Jones:



Texas Considers Bill to Ban Almost All Abortions

— By Tim Murphy
| Fri Mar. 11, 2011 1:04 PM PST.


From the Texas Independent:

House Bill 2988 by state Rep. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) would prohibit abortions from being performed unless a physician determines there is a substantial risk to the woman's life or a major body function. Parker's bill comes on the heels of a bill by state Rep. George Lavender (R-Texarkana) banning abortions except in cases of medical necessity, rape or incest.

Among other things, Parker's bill makes no exception for cases of rape or incest, an exception that's long been considered untouchable even by many pro-lifers. It also explicitly prohibits physicians from considering possible impairments to mental health. A spokesperson for Rep. Parker told Mother Jones that the legislator "does intend to include if it moves through the process." But they're not included in the version that was filed on Thursday because Parker didn't actually write the bill; it was drafted at the behest of the Grass Roots Institute of Texas, an organization founded by conservative activist Bill Burch.

In February, Burch floated a similar bill in the Lone Star State that would establish that life "begins at the moment that the initial splitting of a human cell occurs during fertilization," explaining at the time that his bill "will eliminate abortion in the United States" by giving the Supreme Court a chance to overturn Roe v. Wade. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/03/texas-moves-ban-abortions-case-rape-incest

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[William769]

2. Would that hold up under RoevWade?

[Matariki]

4. Do you notice what's going on? They don't give a shit if it holds up or not.

Law and constitution clearly means nothing.

[William769]

5. Thats not what I was asking.

[cali]

18. these proposed laws are meant as a challenge to Roe

[walldude]

8. No it wouldn't.

But it will be a long drawn out battle before the Supreme Court ever hears it...

[backscatter712]

10. Chances are it'll be shot down in the circuit courts.

I doubt the SCOTUS will even choose to hear it.

[H2O Man]

16. correct

[walldude]

20. Hopefully it doesn't even go that far. Maybe it won't pass...

They have to know it's a waste of time...

[Puregonzo1188]

17. His hope is to get the Supreme Court to overturn Roe.

[aquart]

3. So it's YES to "anchor babies"?

I get so confused about the positions the RW takes regarding motherhood.

[BlueIris]

13. It's yes to punishing women (and their partners.) nt

[aquart]

14. You didn't know children are a woman's punishment for sex?

[NYC Liberal]

6. I always thought it was stupid and hypocritical to claim to be "pro-life"

and make an exception for rape or incest. Now, I'm pro-choice all the way. But it seems to me if you think abortion is murder, then it wouldn't matter if the baby was the product of rape or incest since biologically they would be no different than any other. If you are "pro-life" then why the exception? (Health of the mother is a different story.)

If you want to call yourself pro-life and say abortion is murder, then do it all the way.

[jemelanson]

7. Why does this not surprise me? The GOP has got total control of

the government in Texas. The culture battle is over in Texas and the Fundies have won. I think there maybe an oasis of Progressives that may be under siege in Austin. Both the House and the State Senate have Republican Super Majorities, the Governor is a Republican, the State Board of Education is full of Fundies, they are rewriting the text books to meet their own view of everything. It is a right to work state so there are no such things as public employee unions. The Good Ole Boys are in charge and they are going to do things their way.

[w8liftinglady]

15. I feel so bad for my patients-to-be.

self-induced abortions will be back.These fucking "Pro-life" hypocrites.

They truly sicken me the more I live here.

[ljm2002]

9. Of course they will never succeed in banning abortion...

...what they will do, however, is make it illegal again, and therefore unsafe. We'll go back to the times when women died due to unsafe abortions performed by themselves or their friends or unscrupulous or inept back-alley abortionists.

And of course, the exceptions for a woman's health will be stripped away, because really, a woman's primary value is her ability to produce offspring, right? So her health is not ever the primary consideration, is it? How selfish of a woman to consider her own life before that of an unborn child, even if that child is deformed, or will be born dead, or carrying it will almost certainly kill her. How dare she reject her own primary purpose for being! If it is her fate to die from a tubal pregnancy, well, the Good Lord works in mysterious ways...

And when girls and women start dying again, for all these various reasons, their fathers and mothers, their brothers and sisters and husbands and friends will sit up and take notice, and a few of them will say Whatever were we thinking? But the damage will be done.

Shame, shame on the American Taliban. They are so disgustingly mean-spirited and ignorant it makes me want to spit. But shame, too, on all the young women who don't want to be seen as "feminists / feminazis" and who think they don't need to stand up for this right, who think there are compromises to be made in this area. They will find out the hard way that this right has NOTHING to do with being "pro-abortion" and EVERYTHING to do with women's basic human rights.

I hope my dystopian vision does not come to pass, but then again, I never thought I'd live to see the unions busted down to the point they are now, either.

[tammywammy]

12. Good post. n/t

[tigereye]

11. yup, keep those job creation bills coming!

:crazy:


Clearly I need to send more money to Planned Parenthood.

[Duer 157099]

19. You can tell an election year is approaching

by how much of this shit starts flowing.