5 ms·

The article does touch on abortions, but brushes it off in a way that I found rather shocking given the gravity of the situation.

relbeek2 5y ago
The Texas government definitely views women as second class citizens.
- thrill 5y ago
  Or perhaps the Texas people view the unborn as first class citizens.
  - wpietri 5y ago
    Nah. If children were all that important, they'd be doing a lot more than passing laws to control women's bodies. Heck, the whole problem of abortion could be solved by controlling men's bodies. We are, after all, involved in 100% of unwanted pregnancies. Mandatory reversible vasectomies at puberty for all men would be a big step forward. And for men who slip up and impregnate somebody who doesn't want to carry to term, mandatory surrogacy payments to the woman from garnished wages to cover the work and expense. And that's before we get to other obvious things like 100% free prenatal, birth, and postpartum care, plus a robust parental support system including visiting nurses, child health care, and subsidized child care so that women can quickly return to the workforce.
    - erik_seaberg 5y ago
      > Mandatory reversible vasectomies They can’t mandate that reversal shall work; the failure rate starts at 5% and goes up over time.
      - wpietri 5y ago
        Surely a small price to pay if you believe, as the anti-abortion people do, that you're saving lives. More practically, I expect that research into higher-quality reversible vasectomies would be swift and well-funded if they were mandatory in Texas.
rossdavidh 5y ago
20+ year Texas resident here. The abortion law was, I believe, mostly passed in order to attempt to keep progressives from moving to Texas. The state legislature and governor know that it is most likely to be struck down by the courts. Therefore, it will be gone and out of the way before the next election, so they don't face much of a backlash, but it may keep a bunch of Californian Democrats who might otherwise move here and vote, from moving here. On the other hand, any Californian Republicans who move here, they would like to get, because Texas has been moving from deep red to purplish red in recent years. It's still for sure a right-leaning state, but an influx of Democratic voters, while small compared to the existing population, could well be enough to tip the balance in a Democratic-favorable year.
- howinteresting 5y ago
  The problem is that even if everything you're saying is true, the signaling is enough to have a tremendous chilling effect on actual, material access to abortion in Texas.

relbeek2 5y ago

The Texas government definitely views women as second class citizens.

thrill 5y ago
Or perhaps the Texas people view the unborn as first class citizens.
- wpietri 5y ago
  Nah. If children were all that important, they'd be doing a lot more than passing laws to control women's bodies. Heck, the whole problem of abortion could be solved by controlling men's bodies. We are, after all, involved in 100% of unwanted pregnancies. Mandatory reversible vasectomies at puberty for all men would be a big step forward. And for men who slip up and impregnate somebody who doesn't want to carry to term, mandatory surrogacy payments to the woman from garnished wages to cover the work and expense. And that's before we get to other obvious things like 100% free prenatal, birth, and postpartum care, plus a robust parental support system including visiting nurses, child health care, and subsidized child care so that women can quickly return to the workforce.
  - erik_seaberg 5y ago
    > Mandatory reversible vasectomies They can’t mandate that reversal shall work; the failure rate starts at 5% and goes up over time.
    - wpietri 5y ago
      Surely a small price to pay if you believe, as the anti-abortion people do, that you're saving lives. More practically, I expect that research into higher-quality reversible vasectomies would be swift and well-funded if they were mandatory in Texas.

rossdavidh 5y ago

20+ year Texas resident here. The abortion law was, I believe, mostly passed in order to attempt to keep progressives from moving to Texas. The state legislature and governor know that it is most likely to be struck down by the courts. Therefore, it will be gone and out of the way before the next election, so they don't face much of a backlash, but it may keep a bunch of Californian Democrats who might otherwise move here and vote, from moving here. On the other hand, any Californian Republicans who move here, they would like to get, because Texas has been moving from deep red to purplish red in recent years. It's still for sure a right-leaning state, but an influx of Democratic voters, while small compared to the existing population, could well be enough to tip the balance in a Democratic-favorable year.

howinteresting 5y ago
The problem is that even if everything you're saying is true, the signaling is enough to have a tremendous chilling effect on actual, material access to abortion in Texas.