I suppose the only surprise to this is that it’s taken him this long.
Never again
Proclaiming his ultimate goal to eliminate abortion at any stage, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday said he would back legislation to ban abortion in Texas after 20 weeks, the point at which he said a fetus can experience pain.
He said he also wants lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session to pass a law requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges with nearby hospitals, and he wants abortion clinics to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers.
“Over the last decade, Texas has taken extraordinary steps to protect the lives of the unborn, but when 80,000 lives are lost to abortion each year in our state, we know our work is far from over,” Perry said, speaking at the Source Pregnancy Center in west Houston.
“Let me be clear, my goal – and the goal of many of those joining me here today – is to make abortion at any stage a thing of the past,” Perry said. “But while Roe versus Wade prohibits us from taking that step, it does allow us, the states, to do some things to protect life if they can show there is a compelling state interest. I don’t think there’s any issue that better fits the definition of a compelling state interest than preventing the suffering of our state’s unborn.”
As the Trib notes, the evidence for “fetal pain” is “unlikely”, but hey, who are ya gonna believe, Rick Perry or a bunch of pencil-necked scientists? Really, I have to wonder why, if this is such a moral imperative, Perry didn’t push it in 2011 when he had the largest majorities in the Lege he’ll ever have, not to mention a Presidential campaign to launch. What was he waiting for? Be that as it may, I’m too tired to be outraged today, so I’ll just point you to Craig Malisow, who lets you know just how awful the people at that Source Pregnancy Center are.
One more thing:
Elizabeth Graham, director of the state-based anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life, said her group supports the 20-week ban, but no bill has been filed yet.
Appearing with Perry in Houston, she said her organization would back a measure that includes exceptions for women whose lives are in danger, but not for victims of rape or incest.
Please, by all means, let’s spend the next year or so talking about why women who are raped should not be exempted from this. I’ll pay for Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock’s plane tickets to come and tell us all what they think myself.