You know what sucks? What sucks is that the business of the House has to continue tonight at 6 p.m. after the Houston memorial and Austin graveside service and reception for Rep. Joe Moreno. With the speed of state business things must be rushed through to completion in spite of the fact that many state legislators and staffers are wishing the world would just stop for a few days.
In the spirit of showing us how cruel the world is, Speaker Craddick has HB 1212 on the calendar for tonight in the House. HB 1212, you'll remember, is the "Phil King Hates Abused Teenagers" bill. This so-called parental consent bill is controversial and messy.
Jessica Farrar, a leader on this issue and a champion of women's rights, is the Democrats hope to put strength in the debate against this awful legislation. After delivering a 40+ minute moving eulogy of her friend and former chief of staff, we're sure her strength and fortitude are spent.
We, at PinkDome, hope that since Craddick is forcing controversial legislation today that the Democrats honor democratic principles and stand shoulder-to-shoulder against the littany of bad legislation. Maybe, just maybe you picked the wrong day asshole to try to shove this bill in the faces of people that came to Austin to fight for the principles they believe in.
Maybe, just maybe they'll dry their eyes and remember why they are there and maybe...we'll see power and tightly clenched jaws and a committment to put an end to these dirty tricks and railroading of legislation through the House.
We can hope, can't we?
Please...you bleeding heart liberals.
So what now? Can they put it back on the calendar?
Points of order ever do confuse me so.
HA, you don't scare us with the bleeding heart liberal taunt anymore. We'd rather have a bleeding heart than none at all. Your bleeding heart taunt only scared us back in the 90's. Get some new material. How about we call you a terrorist hijacking women's rights and eroding the civil rights of Texans?
I'm sorry, I just now noticed that Calendars has a meeting scheduled for tonight at 11. I can only imagine that they're putting 1212 back on the docket.
Which means more time to contact your rep to say:
HB 1212 forces undue burden (and therefore violates constitutional rights) on young women because it 1) limits access to the legal system by introducing venue restrictions 2) changes the burden of proof for judicial bypass to "clear and convincing" from "preponderance of evidence" and 3) lengthens time given for judicial bypass from 2 business days to 5 business days.
This increase in time length also threatens the health of young women. The American Medical Association says parental consent laws "increase the gestational age at which the induced pregnancy termination occurs, thereby also increasing the risk associated with the procedure."
The public reporting of any judicial bypass (including the judge, the decision, the date, county name, and county of residence of the applicant) will encourage violence against judges (especially with the history of violence in the anti-abortion movement) and will encourage speculation in small communities of who applied for judicial bypass and increase harrassment of the suspected young women. In the case of public reporting, if not threatened by violence, judges will undoubtedly be threatened by politics during election time for doing something the law *stipulates* they *must* do if it is determined to be in the best interests of the minor. Judges should not be punished for doing to right thing.
The following organizations oppose parental consent laws:
American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the American Medical Women's Association.
And that's just be beginning of what's wrong. :)
fyi: hb1212 just got set on the house calendar again for thursday, 5/12. ugh.
The best hope for beating this thing might be the nasty provision (among so many others) that exposes the parents of a minor to conviction on a "state jail felony" charge if they strongly suggest to their daughter that having an abortion might be her best option.
Parents get to make the decision for her, just as long as they make the "right" one.
Tell us again, Phil, that it's a parental rights bill. Better yet, tell it to your base.
This article (or whatever you choose to call it) only exhibits how much you do not know about the legislative process. If we didn't continue on, YOU would have complained when we were forced to call special session after special session, wasting tax payer dollars. OR your friends' bills would just be DEAD b/c they weren't heard on the floor by the deadline (5/12). Then you would have bitched about that. So, before you stick your proverbial foot in your mouth, be aware that everyone including the Speaker mourned the loss of Joe Moreno and would have loved to call it a day. Next time, instead of blurting out things you have no clue about, realize that life must go on (especially when dealing with Legislation affecting the future of Texas) whether we like it or not.
a-fuckin'-men...