I had a delightful mini-vacay, involving some camping and time with the nieces. Things I have been given ample opportunity to ponder include the following: The old adage that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” is not always true. If you are in holiday mode today yourself, that’s your discussion point du jour. Talk amongst yourselves, hopefully not in a cloud of fireless smoke as a light drizzle descends while you attempt to make morning coffee.
If not in holiday mode, please return to the situation in Texas, which I did, thanks to some links sent by a friend.
What had I heard about “the Texas situation”? What is the “Texas situation” and who is Wendy Davis?
Here’s what you might think: Ultra-conservatives were attempting to put in a very restrictive abortion law and this would close down most clinics in Texas. One woman, Wendy Davis, was lionized for a lengthy filibuster, including a “loud demonstration” (read angry mob).
I, of course, knew she was not my kind of “hero.”And as it turns out she is no one’s hero.
For the Texas law aimed to stop abortions happening after 20 weeks.
From this fine assessment of the situation:
We might recap: By the time that a baby has been in utero for one month, blood is pumping around the body. In the second month, facial features develop, including the growth of ears, eyes, arms, legs, toes, and fingers. At six weeks, the baby’s brain, spinal cord, and central nervous system are all pretty well formed — in outline at least. By the two-month mark, sensory organs begin to develop and bone replaces cartilage. Three months in, arms, hands, fingers, feet, and toes are fully formed, and the baby can grab with its fists as well as open and close its mouth. Teeth are on their way, as are reproductive organs. In month four, the baby is fully formed, and eyelids, eyebrows, eyelashes, nails, and hair develop. At this point, a baby can suck his thumb, yawn, hiccup, stretch, and make faces. At 18 weeks, the baby can move around, and experience REM sleep, including dreams. At 20 weeks, some studies show, it can recognize its mother’s voice.
At each of these stages, had the bill been passed, it would have remained legal in Texas to kill the child. The law that Wendy Davis and her fellow “pro-science” acolytes so bravely stood against would have rendered it illegal to kill the child after this point. And when I say kill, I mean kill. I mean break bones, rip apart limbs, crush skulls, drain fluids, still a beating heart, annihilate a brain that is capable of dreaming, and crush a nervous system. I mean: Kill. As David Freddoso put it yesterday, “Wendy Davis can now say, When the moment came to stand up for smashing the life out of a baby 6 mos into pregnancy, I was up to the task.” This is not an accomplishment of which she should be proud.
As for closing clinics, this it turns out was because the clinics would be forced to comply with safety regulations:
According to ThinkProgress, the bill would also have forced “all but five of the state’s abortion clinics to close their doors.” This statement, and variants of it, occurred repeatedly during the evening — and always without context. In truth, clinics would close only if they failed to meet new safety standards that have been drawn in response to the horror stories in Philadelphia and Houston.
Therefore, the modern “women’s rights advocate” stands for something so gruesome they won’t name it and in favour of lower health and medical standards at clinics.
Wendy Davis is not a hero to anyone when you examine the matter closely.
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A comment not directly connected to this story though I would think Wendy Davis would champion ‘freedom’ (as long the freedoms agree with her).
I thought it might be appreciated in light of the recent PWPL stories and comments on freedom to mention a 2012 book (yes, a bit of a read) titled ‘Roger Williams and The Creation of the American Soul’. Though I don’t agree with the underlying assumption of what ‘freedom’ is I see this book as a good presentation of where our current idea of freedom comes from. Following the life of Roger Williams (1603 – 1683) this work traces European, largely British, and North American historical forces and individuals that were foundational to the American story of the separating of the state from the church and the idea of liberty.
A strong presentation though worthwhile to keep in mind that the author sees ‘freedom’ as a dichotomy. Reality is assumed to be of two spheres; the conscience/spiritual and the material/physical. Hence, ‘freedom’ is different depending on what sphere one is looking at. In the conscience/spiritual realm freedom is absolute license whereas freedom in the physical/material is limited by democratic social consensus. I see that there are some problems with this understanding. One is, ‘Who decides what is ‘conscience/spiritual’? and another is ‘Who makes up the ‘consensus’?. Moreover, it seems to me, ‘freedom’ is more an ontologically based reality not subject to philosophical distinction of spheres or social consensus.
The book does not wrestle with the definition of freedom rather it simply proceeds to present an account of what happened to create the popular, American, idea of ‘freedom’.
And Operation Rescue found an ad on Craig’s List offering people money to be professional protesters. They were recruiting for the Texas filibuster.
I always suspected that these folks were from “rent a mob”.
I am disappointed with this “rah, rah, rah – isn’t she a HERO!?” business I see on so many websites. I grew up in Texas, and I’m not even anti-abortion, but I am not pro-abortion either. It is 100% true that had these people not been democrats and “feminists” and been “pro-life” they would be being demonized as a “religious fringe group” all over the media and people would “hate” them instead of calling them “heroes”. It’s an awful double standard in the American media lately, and I am sick of it.
It is a GOOD thing to make these clinics comply with safety standards. When I visited a PP in Dallas once to get birth control, the place was so tiny and cramped I would be amazed they were in compliance with fire code.
When did being “pro-women’s rights” become something only American democrats are allowed to be? Also, not surprised about the “rent a mob” – these days half the battle is planting fake protestors and drumming up a big, fake internet campaign.
Miss Wendy “I’m pro-woman except for those that disagree with me” Davis is a politician who wants to run for major political office – I’m sure everything she does is “from the heart” to “help her feminist sisters in their struggle against oppression” (sarcasm).
Give me a break!