The Extent of Anger at Planned Parenthood

A friend posted this on Facebook after the protests regarding HB2 and SB9 on Monday, July 1, 2013:

Out of all the blues I talked to tonight, MOST of them were just super focused on having their tax dollars NOT go to Planned Parenthood. I mean, I kept trying to ask them “how can we help women have planned (versus unplanned) pregnancies” and they would just go back to Planned Parenthood Planned Parenthood Planned Parenthood and how evil it was.

Even the really cool, chill, level-headed people were just so transfixed with the evils of Planned Parenthood.

I almost felt that they would be fine with private abortion clinics as long as they weren’t Planned fucking Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood has really really pissed them off. Their main argument was that women who go in there aren’t given unbiased info about their options – they are pushed towards abortions. And they argued that PP makes their money of abortions and wants abortions. That PP is pro-abortion and is in the “abortion business.”

Also they said that Planned Parenthood gets money for giving mammograms from the government but it’s a fraud because they don’t actually give them.

There was a WHOLE LIST. I didn’t really believe any of it, but I suggest anyone who isn’t super familiar with Planned Parenthood and all that it has to offer and all that it does (and does not do) and how it works to take some real time reading up on Planned Parenthood.

PP isn’t the bad guy – but I found myself without enough thorough knowledge about them (other than the basics) to defend them.

Learning what to research through the other side’s arguments….

I have two thoughts on this:

1. Their information on Planned Parenthood seems incomplete or inaccurate. Here is what they actually do:

© Planned Parenthood/Via washingtonpost.com

© Planned Parenthood/Via washingtonpost.com

2. Remember how, a week earlier, Planned Parenthood funding was considered “not germane” to the issues presented in SB5?

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You Live Here with Us

Photo by Kathy O'Cain via Facebook

Photo by Kathy O’Cain via Facebook

None of you understand. I’m not locked up in here with you. You’re locked up in here with me.
-Rorschach, Watchmen by Alan Moore

An interesting feature of the past week’s events in Texas is the seemingly genuine surprise, not only among Republican leaders, but rank-and-file “pro-life” supporters as well, that so many people care so deeply about this issue and will stand and oppose bills like SB5 and its zombie equivalents, HB2 and SB9.

After ten years of dominating all statewide elected offices and both chambers of the Legislature, I suspect that Republicans, and conservatives in general, began to think of it as their state, and that we progressives were stuck here with them. If you’ll pardon the Watchmen reference above, maybe it’s time for them to realize that Texas is our state, too, and it is time for conservatives to realize that they have to live in it with us.

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How Have Texas Republicans Been Abusing Their Power Lately?

When liberal fascists form a mob, they do so in an orderly, color-coordinated fashion. (© @OFA_UT/Twitter)

When liberal fascists form a mob, they do so in an orderly, color-coordinated fashion. (© @OFA_UT/Twitter)

We’ve all heard about how an “unruly mob” disrupted the Texas Senate last week, and how all the beleaguered rich white dudes were scared. We’ve also heard how someone allegedly doctored the voting records to make it look like the vote on SB5 took place before midnight on June 25, when in fact it occurred after midnight on June 26 (and therefore after the expiration of the Legislature’s special session.)

One of these is a group of citizens making noise for about ten minutes inside a public building to express discontent with some pretty shady legislative practices. The other is felony falsification of public documents. Which one do you think state Republican leaders are choosing to make an issue? Continue reading

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SIGNAL BOOST: The Context of the “Unruly Mob”

History is often written by whoever gets their story out the earliest, repeats it most often, and says it the loudest. Republicans will try to make the night of June 25, 2013 a story of an “unruly mob” who disrupted the democratic process. Anyone watching Tuesday night knows that this is a lie, but Republicans know that repeating a lie enough times makes it the truth (cf. Swift Boat, Benghazi, IRS, etc.)

We have to be the authors of history on this one, and truth is on our side. They’re going to try to pass this bill again. They have the numbers to do it. We have the power to make it clear that they had to break the rules—and the law—to get SB5 passed.

Texas Rep. Donna Howard posted this on her Facebook page with the following note (h/t Jennifer): “I want to emphasize the comments from someone who posted on my page because it gives you a perspective that is not necessarily being conveyed by the media and certainly not by the Republicans.” The comment is from Kathy Kennemer Genet (paragraph breaks added for ease of reading):

For the last day, I have glad to have been known as a member of the Unruly Mob at the capitol. But I want to straighten out a misconception about what happened in the Senate Chamber on Tuesday, and on Monday, and in the House Chamber on Sunday.

I was fortunate to be a witness in the galleries those days. Each day I was there, the leaders in those rooms, and the leaders of the groups organizing us made it crystal clear that we had to respect the rules of decorum there. We were shushed if we clapped, or spoke out in any way. We were prohibited from any expressions, including silent “jazz hands” during the proceedings.

The threat was that after being warned from the floor, if even one of us spoke out, the whole gallery would be cleared. Our job each time was to be a silent witness and a silent support for our legislators doing their work. Occasionally, a new spectator was allowed into the gallery, and if they yelled out, dozens of us quickly got them quiet and told them not to do it again.

I saw many of the same faces day after day in the chambers. We listened to things that made us sad, and happy, and angry and proud. We watched our legislators doing their work and hoped they got some support from our witness and our presence. We silently watched Sen. Davis’s tireless filibuster and the good work of the Senators supporting her for over 12 hours.

In the last half hour, as procedural rules were ignored and broken so that the vote could happen against the law, Senator Letcia Van de Putte, said these words: “At what point does a female Senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?” At that moment hours and days of decorum did break, but they broke as a civic duty to halt what should have been halted legally, through the rules of the Texas State Senate. We were the last wall, and all the anger, and frustration and emotion poured out.

We responded to the rule of law being broken right in front of us. And this time our legislators from the Senate, and from the Texas House of Representatives who had come into the Senate chambers, looked up at us and smiled and held up two fingers which meant a NO vote. And we held up two fingers and yelled until our ears rang. The troopers were leading people out, and as the gallery emptied to 2/3, the sound got louder.

I have never been more proud to raise my voice and I would have happily been arrested for that right. We were not an unruly mob in the gallery despite what Lt. Gov. Dewhurst says. In this way, as in countless others that night, he is wrong.

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If You’re Planning on Joining the Next Round of SB5 Protests, Take Heed (UPDATED)

UPDATE (06/30/2013): Karen has been kind enough to update her research, which I have put in a new post. Please direct your attention there instead of her for more up-to-date information. Continue reading

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The “Unruly Mob” Was There for You

A couple of quotes that capture my thoughts on those who think the “unruly mob,” to use the Lieutenant Governor’s words, was somehow worse than the shenanigans leading up to 11:50 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 in the Texas Capitol building, not to mention the shenanigans of SB5 itself:

Todd Palino (via Jen):

Some have raised a concern about the “mob tactics” used last night by the citizens in the Texas Senate. Normally, I would agree that the shouting, effectively making sure that in the last 15 minutes after the filibuster was ended no vote could be recorded, is troublesome at the least. However, we have to remember that the senators, specifically the Republican senators, and the lieutenant governor, twisted the chamber’s rules to end that filibuster. Ignoring the back brace, they ruled Senator Davis out of order because she spoke on the topic of Planned Parenthood’s budget, and then again because she discussed a state law requiring a sonogram before an abortion. Given that the bill in question deals with the regulation of abortion procedures, providers, and facilities, no reasonable person would say that those two topics are not germane. Continue reading

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The MDs of the Texas Senate

I’m awarding my first-ever Tweet of the Day Award to Andrea Grimes, for her brilliant assessment of certain Texas doctors who legislate.

20130625-200533.jpg

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Welcome to Our Dystopia: The Health and Freedom of Millions of Texas Women Depends on One Woman Talking Nonstop for 13 Hours

There is something very dystopian about the notion that the health, dignity, and safety of millions of women rests on the back of one woman, who must stand and talk without water or bathroom breaks for thirteen hours, in order to protect said women. Margaret Atwood didn’t write this. This is real. This is the Texas lege.

Monique Daviau, on Texas Sen. Wendy Davis’ 13-hour filibuster, currently in progress

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Cathie Adams is a Stain on Texas’ Honor

I did not know who Cathie Adams was until a moment ago, and I can pretty much guarantee that history will not care who she is. All that matters is that she is vile, despicable, and yet another embarrassment to the great state of Texas. At least she doesn’t hold elected office.

Anyway, she tweeted a few sentiments that apparently emerged from a rift between our universe and one that would allow someone to think this is an acceptable thing to say:


As my friend Lynn said, “Class, Texas. Talk about lazy smear tactics. Calling people ‘Feminazis?’ Really? In 2013?”

I’ve already expended too much mental energy on this waste of space. I’m actually glad, though, that she and people like her are talking, because we are not going to forget what you said and the kind of people you are.

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The Citizens’ Filibuster Here in Austin is Far Stronger than the Fools Running the Legislature

Over the past few days, something truly remarkable has happened here in Austin. As the Republican-controlled state legislature has used a special session to consider yet more scientifically-baseless and needlessly oppressive bills regarding abortion rights, thousands of people crowded into the Capitol building to stage a citizen’s filibuster. I am in awe of the many brave and tireless people who are standing up to the people who claim to be “pro-life” but in reality could not care less about the life of anyone who isn’t a wealthy donor. I have nothing, nothing at all, but contempt right now for the liars, fools, and cowards in the Legislature who are supporting these bills, and a similar level of disdain for the people who support them. Lest you think Texas is a cesspool of adherents to a dying ideology, though, the thousands of people who donned orange and crowded the building are a testament to everything that is good and right about Texas. Do not give up on Texas. We may surprise you yet.

For some excellent coverage of what has been going on at the Capitol, I highly recommend Julie Gills’ blog:

State Rep. Senfronia Thompson offered an amendment that would exclude rape and incest victims from the 20-week abortion ban, but Republicans weren’t having any of it. Rep. Thompson even brandished a wire hanger to illustrate the seriousness of what Republicans are trying to do. It was no use, though, as Republicans in the Texas House generally don’t like to consider consequences like that.

Senfronia Thompson doesn't have time for this foolishness

A few lowlights from the past few days:

h3FA38A8CRep. Jodie Laubenberg (R-Murphy) wins my first-ever Facepalm Award, because she doesn’t know what rape kits do. Proving that she is not only dumb, but also immune to self-awareness, she voted against insurance coverage for prenatal care in 2007 because the beneficiaries of such coverage “[are] not born yet”:

A priceless exchange occurred between Harper-Brown cohort Jodie Laubenberg of Rockwall and Dallas Dem Rafael Anchía. Laubenberg proposed to enforce a three-month waiting period before expectant mothers could begin receiving prenatal and perinatal care under CHIP. Anchía pointed out that the eligibility change would kick nearly 100,000 children out of the CHIP program. “That is absolutely untrue!” Laubenberg shot back, proving her point by waving a sheet of paper. Then again, “That is absolutely untrue!”

“You know,” Anchía replied, “I can hear you yelling, but just because you yelled, it doesn’t make it true.” Anchía pointed out the consequences of denying health care to the unborn. “You do know, don’t you, that these are U.S. citizens?”

“But they’re not born yet,” Laubenberg, a “family values” conservative, retorted. Dukes, standing behind Anchía at the back mic, whipped her head around in a shocked double take. Anchía, smelling blood, observed, “You have an anti-life amendment,” which set Laubenberg off on a loud tirade in which she claimed to be the most pro-life member of the House.

– State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R-Crazytown) wants to make sure we all know that he was not trying to threaten anyone when he tweeted that he is thankful for the “right 2 protect ourselves & the 2nd amendment” amid all the liberals crowding around the Capitol. Stickland, who apparently “brings his gun to work every day,” thinks that anyone who might connect his reference to the right to own a gun to any sort of threatening posture is simply engaging in an “illogical liberal attack.”


If we take Stickland at his word, then he needs to work on the clarity of his writing skills, or at least his tweeting skills. In the same article on his site, however, Stickland wrote that “only liberals would depict legislation that increases the standard of care women are receiving in health clinics as a ‘war on women,'” thus establishing that Stickland is either too dishonest or too stupid to be taken seriously by grownups.

– Finally, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst warned on Sunday that the governor will call a second special session of the Legislature, which is normally supposed to wrap everything up in May, unless it passes “certain items.” He didn’t specify the “items,” but he and most other Texas Republicans suck at being subtle.

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