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The abortion law too stupid for Texas
State Representative Molly White has done it. The freshman Texas legislator—who never leaves home without a collection of tiny rubber fetuses with which to spread her anti-abortion message—has introduced an abortion bill so harebrained (but just barely), even fellow Texas Republicans and pro-life groups can’t back it.
...
It’s telling that most of these laws are driven not by advocates for women but by the legal arm of the anti-abortion movement. At some point, anti-abortion advocates shifted their tactics. They’re still about protecting fetuses, of course, but increasingly, abortion restrictions are framed as helping women. For example, in courts, pro-life groups frame needlessly burdensome admitting privileges and stringent clinic rules as a way to improve patient care—then celebrate the closures of clinics as happy byproducts.
...
If White is indeed focused on protecting women, she’ll surely focus next on the women forced or tricked into pregnancy and childbirth as a way to tie them forever to their abusers—a phenomenon also backed by science so reputable that the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) has recommended that ob-gyns screen patients for signs of pregnancy coercion.
But White’s focus on abortion clinics and the paternalistic protection offered only to women who might not choose abortion tips her hand in the end. The Republican who lists her occupation as “anti-abortion activist” on her state bio isn’t looking to help women, she’s trying to stop abortion. Reproductive coercion is real, but White’s bill doesn’t address it.
...
It’s telling that most of these laws are driven not by advocates for women but by the legal arm of the anti-abortion movement. At some point, anti-abortion advocates shifted their tactics. They’re still about protecting fetuses, of course, but increasingly, abortion restrictions are framed as helping women. For example, in courts, pro-life groups frame needlessly burdensome admitting privileges and stringent clinic rules as a way to improve patient care—then celebrate the closures of clinics as happy byproducts.
...
If White is indeed focused on protecting women, she’ll surely focus next on the women forced or tricked into pregnancy and childbirth as a way to tie them forever to their abusers—a phenomenon also backed by science so reputable that the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) has recommended that ob-gyns screen patients for signs of pregnancy coercion.
But White’s focus on abortion clinics and the paternalistic protection offered only to women who might not choose abortion tips her hand in the end. The Republican who lists her occupation as “anti-abortion activist” on her state bio isn’t looking to help women, she’s trying to stop abortion. Reproductive coercion is real, but White’s bill doesn’t address it.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/01/the-abortion-law-too-stupid-for-texas.html
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