Texas' War on Women

I don't understand it, I really don't. I just can't grasp the logic behind denying low-income women the ability to acquire contraception and treatment for STDs along with routine wellness and cancer screenings. Well, there is no logic, that's the problem. The attempts of Texas right-wingers to ban a necessary and beneficial program to women are simply based off of "strong Christian morals" and political agendas. At least it seems that way, in my humble opinion.

The Texas Women's Health Program is a (mostly) federally funded program through Medicaid that provides about 130,000 low-income women with contraceptives, wellness screenings, and other care they may need in the state of Texas. There are eight Planned Parenthoods that participate in this program, and they account for about 40 percent of the services provided to these women. It is important to note that NONE of these Planned Parenthoods offer abortions. However in March of this year, Texas lost all Medicaid funding for women's health and family planning due to the implementation of a new law excluding Planned Parenthood from the program. And this was simply due to the fact that the Planned Parenthood program has affiliations with clinics that do provide abortions.

As a young, single, female college student I find this incredibly unsettling. I know what it's like to struggle financially, and not have the means or resources to be able to seek proper routine medical care. It's stressful to say the least, trust me. I realize that 130,000 women may not seem like a lot in a gigantic state like Texas, but that is 130,000 lives that will be changed, and not for the better due to them not being able to access birth control or health screenings. I understand that this is, for the most part, a far right, Conservative Christian state. I knew that when I moved here. But denying tens of thousands of women the ability to seek medical care simply because those providers may or may not have an association with an abortion clinic is ridiculous to me. Look, we all know Texas is a pro-life state, we get it. No one is asking to make it possible to have an abortion at your neighborhood Walgreens. We, like every other American I'm sure, just want access to some decent medical care. Is that so much to ask? Texas is already the state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents, and it's a sad sad day to me when we blatantly continue to increase that number.

Who you callin' a "numb nuts" Louie Gohmert?!

Lately, I have been finding myself reading more and more posts off of the blog, Juanita Jean's. I absolutely love it! Not only are the posts on the blog site cleverly written, but they also refer to interesting and important political issues circulating around Texas state and local government. The blogger herself is not a political scientist by any means, she is a hairdresser! But she brings up valid points, and in my opinion, a great ideology. She also seems to have a relatively large following.  I recently read a post titled, "Louie! No More Nice Juanita. Don't Make Me Call the Flying Monkeys. Seriously" and just had to share my thoughts on it.

The post is in regards to recent comments made by Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert calling Senator John McCain a "numb nuts" and also suggesting he has been influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. McCain was under fire by Gohmert for criticizing him, and a small group of other Republicans, who are demanding that a senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton be investigated for having possible ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

What I really appreciated about this post by Juanita Jean's was that she mentioned the fact that Congressman Gohmert will be attending a magic show on August 3rd at his church, Green Acres Baptist Church, in Tyler, Texas. While there was a lot of sarcasm present in her writing, it was obvious to me that she was pointing out the apparent hypocrisy here. Isn't magic shunned by most fundamental church organizations? So wouldn't that mean that Gohmert is practicing or at least encouraging the devil's work? I get her logic. It makes sense to me.

I know this post wasn't directly related to Texas state and local government, but the fact that this was one of our state's own Congressman making these comments was just a little disconcerting to me. I would like to think of Texas as being more progressive and open-minded than this, but maybe we just aren't there yet.

Expanding Medicaid Benefits the Taxpayer Too

On July 13, 2012, Joseph Fishkin, an assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Law, wrote a commentary in the Austin American Statesman regarding Gov. Rick Perry's recent statements that Texas should turn down the money offered by the federal government to expand the state's Medicaid program. Fishkin explained the benefits of Texas expanding this much needed program, that tax payers in the state would be getting a very good return on what they would be forced to invest into this program. He brought up a very serious and valid point: that even if we do not take the money, other states will and Texans will still be paying for this program through their federal taxes. Fishkin maintains that our tax dollars will continuously flow out but we won't be getting our share back. In essence, we will be getting nothing for our forced investments into this program. He stated that expanding the Medicaid program would tremendously help lower-income, uninsured people (obviously) and argued that Perry's desire to turn down the federal funding is purely political. I completely agree with Fishkin. I have read several other articles concerning the expansion of the Medicaid program, and the statistics don't lie. So, even though Fishkin is merely stating his opinion (again, I agree with everything he wrote), he is using solid figures (Kaiser) to support his argument. It's apparent to me that while Fishkin is most likely writing to readers that agree with the healthcare reform, he is also trying to reach out to those who agree with Gov. Perry. Hopefully, a few will take heed to what he is asserting. He is, after all, a professor at one of the top law schools in the country.

You Can't Take the Death Penalty Out of the Texan

On July 10, The Texas Tribune came out with an article describing the change in drug protocol that will be used for lethal injections. The drug, sodium thiopental which is part of the three-drug cocktail used for executions, will no longer be available to purchase for lethal injection. Instead, Texas and other death penalty states will be forced to use the drug phenobarbital, which is also used in animal euthanasia.  I found this article interesting because of the way it explained how Texas was "scrambling" to find alternatives to the three-drug cocktail previously used for lethal injections. The author made it sound like Texas was desperate to find an alternative to guarantee that it would be able to carry out the 9 executions it has scheduled in the next 4 months. I am not against the death penalty, but I do find it a little disconcerting how strongly this state supports it.