Texas Senate passes new abortion restrictions

[Coyotl]

Source: By CHRIS TOMLINSON Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The Texas Senate passed sweeping new abortion restrictions late Friday, sending them to Republican Gov. Rick Perry to sign into law after weeks of protests and rallies that drew thousands of people to the Capitol and made the state the focus of the national abortion debate.

Republicans used their large majority in the Texas Legislature to pass the bill nearly three weeks after a filibuster by Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and an outburst by abortion-rights activists in the Senate gallery disrupted a deadline vote June 25.

Called back for a new special session by Perry, lawmakers took up the bill again as thousands of supporters and opponents held rallies and jammed the Capitol to testify at public hearings.

The bill requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, allows abortions only in surgical centers and bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion-rights supporters say the bill will close all but five abortion clinics in Texas, leaving large areas of vast state without abortion services.


Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_XGR_ABORTION_RESTRICTIONS_TEXAS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-07-13-01-02-01

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Texas HB2 passes Senate 19-11 = Abortion Restrictions
Vote just happened. Senate is adjourning.
March to begin outside the building soon.

https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23StandwithTXwomen&src=tyah
ACLU of Texas ?@ACLUTx 1m
1k+ now headed back to #TX Capitol south steps from Republic Square park to greet and hear noble senators who #standwithTXwomen

Cynthia Wickliffe ?@cyanneW 4m
Texas GOP, you have awoken a sleeping monster. We will be coming for your jobs come election day! #TXLege #HB2 #StandwithTXwomen

Stephanie McGraw ?@stephmcgraw 6m
Oh #txlege way to live up to every stereotype about old white southern men "taking care of us women folk". #standwithtxwomen

[steve2470]

1. Abortion Rights Activists Plan Challnge To Texas Measure

http://www.npr.org/2013/07/13/201668126/abortion-rights-activists-plan-challnge-to-texas-measure

In a major victory for the anti-abortion movement, the Texas state senate passed a sweeping bill early Saturday that has become a flashpoint in the national abortion debate. Gov. Rick Perry is expected to sign it in short order.

But the fight is not over. Abortion rights supporters say that the new law attempts to overturn Roe v Wade in Texas, and that's why they plan to take their fight to the courts.

"What this does is completely reshape the abortion landscape in the state," says Elizabeth Nash, who follows state issues at the Guttmacher Instititute, an abortion rights research group. "With this legislation, Texas will become one of the most restrictive states in the country. And Texas really matters."

First, Texas is the second most populous state in the nation, with four major cities and five and a half million women of reproductive age. It also has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation.

[Old and In the Way]

4. of course....

Either the Court vacates Roe v. Wade or it defends it in all States.....we are waiting.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

3. Texas declaring war on women isn't surprising. It's the uprising that's inspiring

I think Texas messed with the wrong gender.

[Coyotl]

5. Tampons Confiscated, Guns Still Allowed At Texas Capitol Ahead Of Abortion Vote [UPDATE]

GREAT NEWS: Police are once again allowing Texas women to possess tampons! Woooo Hoooo!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/tampons-confiscated-texas_n_3588177.html
The Huffington Post | By Paige Lavender & Nick Wing

Tampons Confiscated, Guns Still Allowed At Texas Capitol Ahead Of Abortion Vote [UPDATE]

UPDATE -- 4:43 p.m.: According to a tweet from Stand With Texas Women, the Department of Public Safety has stopped confiscating tampons and maxi pads. According to Burnt Orange Report, state Sen. Kirk Watson convinced the DPS to stop confiscating the items.

EARLIER:

State troopers are confiscating tampons, maxi pads and other potential projectiles from those who are entering the Texas capitol to watch the debate and vote on a controversial anti-abortion bill. Guns, however, which are typically permitted in the state capitol, are still being allowed.

MORE on DU: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=535264

[Coyotl]

28. #TamponGate brings new meaning to 'Red State'

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23tampongate&src=typd

Arabella Stokes ?@romancemama 4h
Dear Texas: Thank you so much for making us look sane. Sincerely, Florida. http://ow.ly/1Z90fK #tampongate

Ahmed Awadalla ?@3awadalla 8h
Meanwhile, it seems they're confiscating tampons in the US. I think we should send troops to liberate their women. #HB2 #TamponGate

Eric Wolfson ?@ericwolfson 8h
Guns don't kill people. Tampons kill people.



Heather Marsh ?@GeorgieBC 10h
Meanwhile the senators are arguing over who loves god best.



Kit O'Connell ?@KitOConnell 11h
Bamdolier of tampons. #Tampongate #txlege


hyperlocavore ?@hyperlocavore 11h
I am laying a ring of tampons around the house as we speak to keep the male zombies away. Need a plan b for the lady zombies. #tampongate

GottaLaff ?@GottaLaff 13h
'Night all. There were tons of great #TamponGate jokes but this is serious. GOP degrading #WarOnWomen will reap consequences.

GottaLaff ?@GottaLaff 13h
"@UnrulyMobTX: #TamponGate brings new meaning to 'Red State.'"

GottaLaff ?@GottaLaff 16h
Only a good guy with a tampon can stop a bad guy with a tampon http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/12/19441556-only-a-good-guy-with-a-tampon-can-stop-a-bad-guy-with-a-tampon … v @MaddowBlog

[krispos42]

6. Sounds like it's time for a Texas sex strike.

"It's the only way to control when I can have kids. And, no, you can't go back there as an alternative!"

[Coyotl]

8. How about a nation-wide sex strike? "Are you pro-choice, pro-women's rights?"

You're not. Too bad, I was looking for a good time. Good luck getting laid you sexist pig!

[Mira]

14. It's the only solution. Not fun, but logical.

Women must refuse to have sex.
Period.
Get a goat to live on the porch, and stand their ground.
We can handle that better than what is going on now.

After they have reduced abortion providers to one in each state, what are they going to latch on to in order to avoid helping to govern?

[PlanetBev]

7. I don't know a lot about law

What court does this go to first? All I know is the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is the most reactionary, anti-choice court in the nation.

Fuck....

[No Vested Interest]

9. How long will it take for this (and similar) law

to be challenged in federal courts?
Can a stay of implementation be applied for?

[alp227]

17. The Wisconsin abortion law got dumped the Monday after it was signed.

Often fed courts will halt ANY law that goes against Roe v. Wade before the law can even go in effect. Here's what's happened in other states.

Alabama:
- April 9: Gov. Robert Bentley (R) signs a bill requiring abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges; law is to take effect July 1.
- June 28: federal judge delays any enforcement of the law for 11 days after the original date.

Arkansas:
- March 4: Gov. Mike Beebe (D) vetoes a bill that would've banned abortions after 12 wks...BUT...
- March 6: The Republican-dominated Arkansas House of Representatives over-rides the veto.
- May 17: Federal judge blocks the law; the law otherwise would have taken effect on August 16.

Kansas:
- April 19: "Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on Friday signed into law a far-reaching anti-abortion bill that creates new restrictions on the procedure and defines life as beginning "at fertilization...The bill bars employees of abortion clinics from providing sex education in schools, blocks tax credits for abortion services and requires clinics to give details to women about fetal development and abortion health risks. It also bans abortions based solely on the gender of the fetus." (Reuters). (The Boston bombing dominated the news the week of 4/15/13, so not many remember these laws.)
- June 28: Federal judge blocks the law

Mississippi:
- April 17, 2012: Gov. Phil Bryant (R) signs law "requiring physicians performing abortions in the state to be a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and to have admitting privileges at an area hospital" thus forcing the ONLY abortion clinic in the entire state to shut down!
- July 1, 2012: A REPUBLICAN-nominated federal judge issues an injunction on the law the day it's supposed to take effect, but the judge partially lifts the injunction 11 days later.
- April 15: Federal judge blocks the law; this ruling disappeared from the news cycle because of the Boston Marathon bombing.

North Dakota:
- March 26: Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) signs three anti-abortion bills that would all go into effect August 1 and: ban abortions "specifically on gender or on genetic abnormalities," require doctors "to determine whether there’s a detectable heartbeat prior to performing an abortion," and require abortion doctors to "have admitting privileges at a local hospital."
- June 25: Lawsuit filed in fed court challenging bills. As of July 10, it is still pending.

Wisconsin:
- July 5: Gov. Scott Walker (R) signs the bill into law "requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital-admitting privileges"; Planned Parenthood and the ACLU immediately sue.
- July 8: A federal judge blocks the law the day it's to take effect pending a full hearing due to a "troubling lack of justification" for the law including " irreparable harm to those women who will be foreclosed from having an abortion in the next week."

[No Vested Interest]

18. Beautiful synopsis of pending federal cases. - Thanks for posting.

However, other states and cases come to mind:
Virginia: where does that stand? - the vaginal probe thing we hear so much about.

Ohio: where several restrictions were tacked onto the budget bill: what's the next step there?
I think there are several other states where specious amendments were tacked onto other bills, but it's too late for me to think them through.

[alp227]

20. answers...

Ohio:
- Gov. John Kasich (R) signed an omnibus state budget bill on June 30 that included provision "that will strip funds from Planned Parenthood, bar abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, and force women seeking abortions to undergo an ultrasound." This Columbus Dispatch article has more details. I cannot find any details of any court challenges against the provisions at this moment.

Can federal courts line-item veto individual provisions out of omnibus budget bills? It's sorta happened in California over in-home care services for the disabled.

Virginia:
- The ultrasound bill was signed on March 8, 2012 by Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) - and apparently McDonnell is under investigation for corruption!
- It's still in effect...and oh man the consequences are UGLY.

[No Vested Interest]

32. Again, thanks, alp. You're right on top of current status

on these cases.
I'm most concerned about unnecessary medical procedures being imposed, not only on these women, but throughout medicine. Talk about needing to control costs !

[Lobo27]

10. I'll never understand conservatives...

They claim to value life, but do everything one can imagine to devalue life. Drone kills innocent, oh well, shit happens. Stray bullet kills child on 4th of July, oh well, 2nd amendment can not be touched.

Young teen has a kid is forced to get on welfare, she is a fucking moocher, shouldn't of spread your legs. Teen's kid has uphill battle, why, oh because all kinds of school projects have been gutted. Yeah, that is really valuing life.

We value life so much. But we love profit prisons dammit. Keep putting young men in there, lives will be ruined for a joint, oh well, prison needs more money.

Disaster hits a liberal state don't help them, why because they don't deserve it.

We value life so much that we want to gut SS, why because SS is contributing so much to the debt. Medicare and medicaid, so much debt. Universal healthcare, we can't have that because we already have the beast healthcare in the world. But we value life so much.

If that is what valuing life is... I must have been taught by some idiotic parents.

[jbond56]

12. sadly the sex police don't care about anything you mentioned.

[ZRT2209]

11. Don't Tread on Me

Last edited Sat Jul 13, 2013, 02:21 AM - Edit history (1)

[lobodons]

13. Note to self: Cancel trip to Texas

I refuse to spend $ in states who advocate the War on Women. (shit, who am I kidding, I refuse to spend money in any Red State. Texas is not on my travel list till at least '16.)

[oogiecatt]

15. We won't back down! Gotta get everyone to register, remember and VOTE!

[NealK]

16. They have no shame!

[Solly Mack]

19. Fuckers.

[tofuandbeer]

21. What is up with these freaks wanting to ban abortion?

I thought they were only interested in money and power.
There's more to this than meets the eye: are they trying to muck the waters for the 2016 election?

[Freddie]

27. The Repug party has changed

Used to be that the old-money types (think Romney) really ran the party; they didn't give a flying fig about abortion and gay marriage but used those issues to get the Fundie crowd to vote against their own interests. Now I think the Fundies outnumber the $$ types and are determined to get their way while they can. Also they know they've lost the fight about gay rights so they will double down on their last remaining target, women.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. I wonder how many "Right To Life" types wanted to machine gun the protesters.

[blkmusclmachine]

23. Men, they're coming for you next.

[Coyotl]

24. Political Decision Making, Texas Style = Meet the Definition of Stupidity

[Coyotl]

25. Adjournment Rally Photo Gallery

Cheryl Garcia ?@ganczha 2h
If I still had my uterus, I'd yank it out and slap a Republican with it!

[RandiFan1290]

26. No grand bargain? No bi-partisan deal?

I thought a party can't just take over and pass whatever they please? I thought we were supposed to have bi-partisan deals and bargains?

[mountain grammy]

29. The Texas women who will be affected by this are poor women

and we all know, they don't count because, as a rule, they don't vote.

[Coyotl]

30. Texas women will be voting in higher numbers than ever before in the next election, and

Last edited Sat Jul 13, 2013, 02:39 PM - Edit history (1)

that will have a real impact on the next legislature, not to mention the Governor will be a Democrat.

Dewhurst will get beat in the primary by a redneck teabagger, I hope. Either way, he will lose.

[mountain grammy]

31. I see that too, and hope you're correct.

I hope every voting age woman in Texas registers to vote and makes sure 10 more women are registered.
That said, I know most of my female Texas in-laws support this anti women shit because, you know, Jesus says so.

[Coyotl]

33. Erick Erickson tells liberals to go buy coat hangers after TX abortion bill passes.

Erick Erickson tells liberals to go buy coat hangers after TX abortion bill passes.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/13/1223212/-Erick-Erickson-tells-liberals-to-go-buy-coat-hangers-after-TX-abortion-bill-passes



Erick Erickson's History Of Inflammatory And Inaccurate Statements
http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/01/29/a-look-back-erick-ericksons-history-of-inflamma/192433