Queue on 1/7/2013 at 21:14
If at first you don't succeed....
Quote:
(CNN) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he expects the state legislature to finish their work as early as next week in a special session held in part to vote on restrictive abortion legislation.
But the Republican governor cautioned that there won't be the same "turmoil" and "mob rule" from protesters in the public gallery as there was last week.
Though another large crowd is expected to descend upon Austin Monday. "The lieutenant governor and the speaker both are not going to allow that to occur in their chambers," Perry said in an interview with KFYO, a radio station based in Lubbock, Texas.
Can I just draw everyone's attention to this line:
Quote:
"The lieutenant governor and the speaker both are not going to allow that to occur in their chambers," Perry said....
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the people's chambers?
Muzman on 2/7/2013 at 01:41
This is flow on the from that senator filibustering the last vote for 13hrs last time I think (Repubs hate that. That's their trick dammit! (although I do find it bizarre that's even a thing anymore, like it's 1800 or something. Pretty sure most parliaments got rid of that everywhere else. Kept the guy in frills with the stick who knocks on the door instead))
First they tried to say the vote made it in time by changing the clocks, now they're having a special session to ram it though. And that senator (I forget her name) is apparently being Gerrymandered out of office soon anyway (or some similar maneouvre).
Democracy \o/
faetal on 2/7/2013 at 07:51
I genuinely feel sorry for reasonable, rational people who live in Texas.
Nicker on 2/7/2013 at 08:05
Yeah. Both of them.
Briareos H on 2/7/2013 at 08:37
I really dunno. Did you guys read the contents of the bill? If my memory is good (I went through the thing), it said two very reasonable things:
* No abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy - That is 5 months to decide whether to keep the child or not. Here in France, one of those silly liberal baby-killing countries, the limit is 12 weeks and there's no-one to complain so as to extend it further.
* Abortion clinics should be held to the same safety and construction standards as hospitals - Abortion sure ain't a trivial thing, it's a dangerous surgical procedure, and there won't be anyone to disagree that it should be carried out in a safe environment. The fact that abortion clinics currently aren't up to these standards is frightening.
On the other hand, you have that senator doing a pirouette that exploits and effectively dismisses the democratic system in favor of her vision.
I am aware that the bigger point is the second one because the safety standards can't be upheld by many abortion clinics in Texas and the law will have the effect of seeing them close down until they are up to it. The bill would certainly hinder abortion in Texas for a short period of time, but isn't that ultimately for the better? I can't see any evidence that the proponents of the bill are trying to prevent abortion in Texas. The official goal is to make it safer and as far as I can see, it's pretty reasonable in its way to do so.
mopgoblin on 2/7/2013 at 13:49
Yeah I'm sure it's all very reasonable when you've got a 0% chance of ever being pregnant and thus will never be directly affected. But let's be super-clear about one thing in particular - this is not about safety. Unless people are getting abortions in back-alleys and the like (something which is more likely with this kinda legislation), abortion is much safer than continuing a pregnancy. If safety (as opposed to, say, controlling women's bodies) was really the motivation, then the legislature would instead be encouraging and supporting abortion at every turn.
Harvester on 2/7/2013 at 16:00
Quote Posted by mopgoblin
If safety (as opposed to, say, controlling women's bodies) was really the motivation, then the legislature would instead be encouraging and supporting abortion at every turn.
Only if we decide that the termination of a human-being-in-the-making is of no relevance at all and shouldn't enter into the equation. And I'm not a woman either, but I think I understand women well enough to know that most of them would prefer to have their abortion, if they choose to have one, in clinics that are up to the latest standards in safety and hygiene.
Muzman on 2/7/2013 at 16:39
Quote Posted by Briareos H
I really dunno. Did you guys read the contents of the bill? If my memory is good (I went through the thing), it said two very reasonable things:
*
No abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy - That is 5 months to decide whether to keep the child or not. Here in France, one of those silly liberal baby-killing countries, the limit is 12 weeks and there's no-one to complain so as to extend it further.
*
Abortion clinics should be held to the same safety and construction standards as hospitals - Abortion sure ain't a trivial thing, it's a dangerous surgical procedure, and there won't be anyone to disagree that it should be carried out in a safe environment. The fact that abortion clinics currently
aren't up to these standards is frightening.
On the other hand, you have that senator doing a pirouette that exploits and effectively dismisses the democratic system in favor of her vision.
I am aware that the bigger point is the second one because the safety standards can't be upheld by many abortion clinics in Texas and the law will have the effect of seeing them close down until they are up to it. The bill would certainly hinder abortion in Texas for a short period of time, but isn't that ultimately for the better? I can't see any evidence that the proponents of the bill are trying to prevent abortion in Texas. The official goal is to make it safer and as far as I can see, it's pretty reasonable in its way to do so.
It's none of those things. It's legal chicanery to try to put standards for abortion clinics so high that they cannot be met and close them down. They're essentially forcing them to buy expensive equipment and upgraded facilities that they don't actually need.
((
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/texas/article/Dewhurst-tweet-says-bill-attempt-to-close-clinics-4609747.php) See some talk of which here)
The stunt with the doctoral admitting privileges is exactly the same as something they did in either Louisiana or Mississippi. Hardly any doctors have hospital admitting privileges in the first place. It's basically red tape that cut the number of legal clinics to a handful. The cost increase and further red tape does the rest.
I'd be interested if there's anything to suggest there's a standards problem in Texas that needs to be so drastically addressed.
I forget if it's the Texas one but there was one where the little sting in the tail of '20wks, with exception for medical emergencies', ignoring for a minute it's a silly arbitrary marker designed to make people who have no real business sticking their nose in feel slightly better, was that you had to go to court to prove your case is emergency enough, which kind all kinds of humiliating and unnecessary. Not to mention slow.
This is all part of a virtually nationwide campaign to attack reproductive rights of all kinds over the past couple of years. It's kind of remarkable.
SubJeff on 2/7/2013 at 17:10
Abortion isn't a surgical procedure either. It can be, but it depends on the stage of the pregnancy - medical abortion is perfectly viable early on.
