Houston Chronicle 3/12/12

Feds challenge Texas voter ID

The U.S. Justice Department has rejected Texas' new Voter ID law.

The department on Monday said Texas did not meet its burden under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and did show that the law will not discriminate against minority voters.

According to the state's data, a Hispanic registered voter is much more likely than a non-Hispanic registered voter to lack the required identification, according to the Justice Department.

The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed voter ID legislation last year, and critics said the measure would make it more difficult for at least 1,000,000 eligible Texas voters to vote.

San Antonio Express News 3/10/12

Longtime Democratic activist John Courage filed Wednesday to run for state Senate District 25.

The district, which includes a chunk of South Austin plus all or parts of Hays, Kendall, Comal, Bexar and Guadalupe counties, is heavily Republican and currently represented by state Sen. Jeff Wentworth.

Wentworth is facing a bruising primary race against former Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones and emergency room physician and Tea Party favorite Donna Campbell.

Courage said he was inspired to step into the race after listening to a recent candidate's forum.

“It was disappointing to me that they didn't address some of the most important needs in the state: education and health care, particularly for children, seniors and Texas women. There needs to be another voice talking about these issues.”

AAS 3/9/12

Papers move, scrap 'Doonesbury' abortion law strip

(snip)

A handful of newspapers say they won't run next week's series, while several others said the strips will move from the comics to opinion pages or websites only. Many already publish the strip by cartoonist Garry Trudeau, whose sarcastic swipes at society's foibles have a history of giving headaches to newspaper editors, on editorial pages.

(snip)
The comic strips feature a woman who goes to an abortion clinic and is confronted by several people who suggest she should be ashamed. Among them is a doctor who reads a script on behalf of Texas Gov. Rick Perry welcoming her to a "compulsory transvaginal exam," and a middle-aged legislator who calls her a "slut."

One panel equates the invasive procedure to rape and describes the device used to perform it as a "10-inch shaming wand."

"Our readers are accustomed to pointed political and social commentary in strips like 'Doonesbury' and 'Mallard Fillmore,'" Tom McNiff, managing editor of The Gainesville Sun and Ocala Star-Banner in central Florida, said in an emailed statement explaining the decision not to run the series. "But the language the author used to make his point in two of the strips was quite graphic for a general readership."

Don't Mess With Texas Women

Your voices are being heard. As the Women’s Health Express tours Texas giving a voice to women impacted by the latest attack on women’s health care, Governor Perry suggested that he will find funding for the Medicaid Women’s Health Program that he has targeted for elimination.

The Medicaid Women’s Health Program provides essential health screenings and birth control to more than 130,000 low-income women in Texas, including more than 2,300 Austin women who received free health exams at Planned Parenthood's E. 7th Street health center through this program last year.

This attack on the Medicaid Women’s Health Program follows Governor Perry’s elimination of two-thirds of Texas’ family planning budget that resulted in 300,000 low-income Texas women losing access to life-saving cancer screenings, birth control, prevention and treatment of STDs, and other essential health exams.

Can Governor Rick Perry be trusted when it comes to women’s health?

Join Cecile Richards, Carolyn Wonderland, Marcia Ball, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Colin Gilmore and others to stand up for women’s health at the Texas State Capitol Tuesday, March 13th at 6:30pm, and tell Governor Perry to stop playing politics with women's health!

The Women's Health Express is visiting 16 cities across Texas in 9 days and the final stop will be in Austin, next Tuesday.

Join us so that the message is loud and clear- Enough is enough--Stop playing politics with women’s health care.

We hope to see you Tuesday!

Sarah Wheat and Pam Smallwood
Interim Co-CEOs

Nicholas D. Kristof NYTimes 3/3/12
When States Abuse Women

HERE’S what a woman in Texas now faces if she seeks an abortion.

Under a new law that took effect three weeks ago with the strong backing of Gov. Rick Perry, she first must typically endure an ultrasound probe inserted into her vagina. Then she listens to the audio thumping of the fetal heartbeat and watches the fetus on an ultrasound screen.

She must listen to a doctor explain the body parts and internal organs of the fetus as they’re shown on the monitor. She signs a document saying that she understands all this, and it is placed in her medical files. Finally, she goes home and must wait 24 hours before returning to get the abortion.

“It’s state-sanctioned abuse,” said Dr. Curtis Boyd, a Texas physician who provides abortions. “It borders on a definition of rape. Many states describe rape as putting any object into an orifice against a person’s will. Well, that’s what this is. A woman is coerced to do this, just as I’m coerced.”

“The state of Texas is waging war on women and their families,” Dr. Boyd added. “The new law is demeaning and disrespectful to the women of Texas, and insulting to the doctors and nurses who care for them.”

AAS 3/1/12

Fan favorite Paul Qui of Uchiko wins 'Top Chef: Texas'

His boss might have won a James Beard Award, but Uchiko's Paul Qui has won the title of "Top Chef" in the finale of Wednesday night's Bravo hit series, "Top Chef: Texas."

Qui, who trained under Uchi chef Tyson Cole before taking the reins at Cole's second restaurant, Uchiko, in 2010, had been a fan and judges' favorite throughout the ninth season of the Emmy-winning series, and he beat Chicago chef Sarah Grueneberg in the finale at the Black & Blue restaurant in Vancouver.

Uchi and Uchiko have been hosting watch parties throughout the season, and during the finale Wednesday night at Uchiko, where Cole was working the kitchen, more than 100 people who were gathered around the TV sets hanging in the lobby and over the sushi bar erupted in cheers as Qui took home the coveted prize.

Alekz Xavier had never seen an episode of "Top Chef" until this season but, with three of her friends, had attended every watch party on Wednesday nights.