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This Is How State-Mandated Rape Is Defended In Texas (Updated)

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston with Rep. Sid Miller R-Stephenville speak together if favor of HB 15, the abortion sonogram bill on May 4th, 2011

Republican Texas State Senator Dan Patrick is a leading architect of the Texas forced sonogram law.

Above you see a picture from the past May of the 15 men and 2 women who worked out final language of the sonogram bill in the Texas Legislature.

Senator Patrick is in the middle of that picture shaking hands with Texas State Rep. Sid Miller in the white hat.

Here is how the forced sonogram law has been described in a recent opinion column by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times—

“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.”

Here is the full series of Doonesbury comic strips that are currently being run on this issue.

Senator Patrick is aware of the opposition this has generated. Below you will see one of the three notes that Senator Patrick has written in recent days on his Facebook page about the forced sonogram law.

I don’t need to offer much rebuttal to what Senator Patrick has said. The facts are going to speak for themselves. Just read what he says. Just listen to the tone.

And then, knowing the elected officials behind the law, think about what is taking place.

Senator Patrick writes of “the left, the pro abortion crowd, and the media elite.” The Senator says— “I have been screamed at by total strangers in the street who recognize me.”

Senator Patrick sees himself as the victim. (more…)

By admin|2012-04-05T20:48:49-04:00March 16th, 2012|Civil Rights, Healthcare|Comments Off

The last debate?

So, after 992 debates, what have we learned? Rick Perry isn’t a debater and probably isn’t that smart. Hell, in Texas, that has been rumored for years. I have met Rick Perry and was not impressed. We didn’t have to have a debate to prove that. I think that what we’ve proven is that debates cannot be won, but instead they can be lost. Mitt Romney was the front runner before the debates and he is the presumptive front-runner after the debates. I don’t think that he had a particularly good performance in any of the debates. Newt Gingrich had some really good performances and that may have boosted his chances, but then he had a disastrous performance in Florida and that tanked his campaign. He performed relatively well tonight using an old playbook in which he attacked the media for asking a valid question. Herman Cain didn’t really perform that well in any of the debates and he is on the outside looking in. There was Tim Pawlenty, who seemed to be always be in the background. There was Michele Bachmann, who tripped over herself and her staff on every occasion.

Tonight, Rick Santorum had to hit it out of the park. He didn’t. As a matter fact, he dropped the ball on a number of occasions. There comes a time in a presidential race when you are in position to win. You have to strike when you’re in position. Rick Santorum had a genuine opportunity to make a very big move towards the Republican nomination. He knew that Mitt Romney would come out and attack him. He needed to be ready. He wasn’t ready. He had not one thoughtful answer to the Arlen Specter attack. There are lots of great things he could’ve said. He could’ve stood up for Arlen Specter as a great Republican. He could’ve stood up for Arlen Specter as a great American who has served his country well, both as a Senator and also on the Warren Commission. He could’ve gone on the offensive and mentioned that Arlen Specter in 2004 was pro-life, just as Mitt Romney, in 2004, was pro-life, but he didn’t. In a couple months, when Mitt Romney is accepting the Republican nomination, Rick Santorum can look back to this night and blame himself. He clawed, scratched and fought his way this far only to lose it with an absolutely abysmal performance tonight. The performance was bad. It wasn’t Rick Perry bad, but it was bad nonetheless.

The debate in less than 100 seconds –

By ecthompsonmd|2012-02-23T03:47:26-04:00February 23rd, 2012|Party Politics|Comments Off

What South Carolina means to the GOP

I’m sure that everybody has heard at least 1000 times by now that South Carolina has chosen the Republican nominee every single time dating back to 1980. I haven’t checked the stats, but that’s what the smart people have told us. I don’t know, South Carolina may be the bellwether of the Republican Party again this year. Personally, I think it’s too early to tell. As I mentioned after the Iowa caucuses, this is one mixed-up field. I don’t think we know much more now than we knew after Iowa.

After Iowa we knew that Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were still in the fray. Some pundits continue to believe that Ron Paul can seriously attract Republican voters, though I’ve never thought that Ron Paul could get over 15% of the GOP vote. He is not a true conservative. He is a Libertarian, an outsider. After Iowa, Herman Cain, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann were really no longer viable candidates. (Jon Huntsman never caught fire. He could possibly be labeled a moderate Republican, of the variety which has been rejected by the mainstream GOP for the last 20 years. Currently, the moderate Republican is a rare species which should be viewed in the zoo.)

Let’s start with Rick Santorum. From a political standpoint, Rick Santorum simply fumbled the ball. He had momentum out of New Hampshire and simply did nothing with it. It was an epic failure. It is in South Carolina that he should’ve hammered home his religious conservative credentials, but he didn’t seem to do that. South Carolina believes in limiting abortions, states’ rights, not limiting gunowners’ rights, etc. South Carolina is the poster child for these conservative social issues. Rick Santorum should’ve hammered home on these issues. Instead, he tried to appeal to South Carolina voters by hammering Obama on the economy. It’s really hard for Rick Santorum to sell himself as more qualified, on the economy, than Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney. Looking at exit polls, there seems to be no conservative demographic that Rick Santorum appealed to more than any other candidate. He was a total washout.

Mitt Romney. The problem with Mitt Romney is that he is milquetoast. He has the voter appeal of John Kerry or possibly Al Gore (he isn’t liberal, but voters are have the same reaction – they yawn). He is completely uncomfortable in front of crowds. He doesn’t seem to be all that comfortable in front of a microphone. Therefore, if you’re going to vote for Mitt Romney, you’re voting for him because you believe that he understands how to fix the economy. Unfortunately for Romney, he simply is not exciting and South Carolina voters wanted somebody who’s going to get them excited. His advisers should have told him to begin to hammer away at Newt Gingrich. Instead, he ignored Newt Gingrich and began to hammer away at Obama. The strategy didn’t work. (BTW, where was all of the support that Nikki Haley was throwing Mitt’s way? She campaigned hard for him and it didn’t seem to help at all.)

Newt Gingrich. In spite of all the baggage that comes with Newt Gingrich, South Carolina loved him. When you look at exit polls, Newt Gingrich won both males and females. He won with voters who are 30 and older. (Ron Paul won the younger voters 18- 24, but Newt Gingrich was second in that category.) Newt Gingrich won those who are college-educated and also won those with no college degree. He appealed to single conservatives those who are married (I found this interesting). The only category in which he lost significantly were those South Carolinians who made more than $200,000 or more (approximate 5% of the electorate). This is the Romney class.

For Mitt Romney, South Carolina was a complete and total failure. He placed a lot of resources and money into South Carolina and he came up second. He came up a distant second. His current strategy is failing miserably. He needs to come up with something else or the Republican nomination will slip through his fingers. I smell panic from the Romney camp.

I believe that this nomination process is far from over. I think for the first time in my adult life, the Republicans are going to have a knock-down, drag-out fight over several months. This is going to be fun.

By ecthompsonmd|2012-01-22T03:54:52-04:00January 22nd, 2012|Elections|Comments Off