Texas Politics

One of the unfortunate things about a democracy is that politicians must always have an eye on the next prize - to the point that their work becomes indistinguishable from their campaign. So it's not ironic that my friend is running an ad in which he decries government interference from Washington in the form of the EPA while his compatriots pass bills in the state legislature to give the government greater say in the health and reproductive choices of more women.

What is surprising is the vocal group of Texans, mostly women, who are fighting back against the government's desire to cut back on the availability of abortion. This fight is taking place around us. The issue is very divisive and decisive (there aren't many fence sitters). And normally apolitical friends on  Facebook are taking up strong stands on both sides of the issue. So I've spent some time thinking about it.

I'll never have an abortion but that's due to my gender. It's almost impossible for me to see it from a woman's perspective - with all it's nuances.

I'm not a baby killer. Give me a knife and a baby and tell me that the parents don't want the child. I won't kill it. Period.

I don't know when the collection of cells in a woman's uterus turns into a human. Two extreme positions are: a) when sperm meets egg, and b) when it's viable outside the mother's body. Neither of them stand up to serious thought.

If you don't want abortions you should work very hard to make birth control easily available. If you don't do that you have a different agenda. On the other hand, making abortions illegal will have little effect on the number of abortions.

Two years ago most of this same group of politicians cut $73 million from family planning. They wanted to stick it to Planned Parenthood - which provides some abortion services but also provides subsidized contraception to many poor women. Due to that decreased access to contraception, in the 2014-15 two year period, the State calculates that over twenty thousand extra babies will be born and that will require about $273 million in public funds (a large chunk for Medicaid). Hmmm. That should worry you. And wipe that smug look off your face if you're not from Texas. Though they look the part and in spite of being led by the hapless Rick Perry, our great state's politicians aren't stupider than yours. It's hard to keep an eye on the next election cycle and to think at the same time.

I fear that in less than a decade, when Vivian enters reproductive age (though I shudder to think about that), we will still be making bad decisions concerning women and their options to have sex and babies.