Deep in the Heart
(Sculpture by Alexander Archipenko, via Vintage Printable.)
For today’s post, I originally planned to write about something different, but I was so distracted by the events taking place down the road at the Texas Capitol that I simply couldn’t concentrate. As I write this, Senator Wendy Davis is nearing the final quarter of her twelve hour filibuster to block the passage of several bills that will greatly impact the reproductive rights of women in Texas. Senator Davis has gone without sitting, leaning, eating, drinking, or taking a restroom break for an entire work day, all the while talking and reading, in an effort to help prevent the passage of these controversial bills that have divided the state across party lines. She is supported by hundreds of women and men, wearing orange to stand in solidarity with her. With tennis shoes on her feet, she is holding strong as she stands for the rights of Texas women. If she can last until midnight, the legislature’s special session will end, and the bills cannot pass.
By the time you read this post, it will all be over, and I have no idea what will happen next. If the bills are not passed, our governor can (and probably will) call a second special session to pass them.
But today, even as elected officials seek to prevent half of their constituents from making our own medical decisions, I am proud to be a Texas woman, standing strong with Senator Davis. Down here, there’s a bumper sticker you often see on the backs of cars: Don’t Mess With Texas Women. That thought sums up the the stubborn, determined, never-give-up attitude of all Texans, and it most definitely applies to women.
I won’t go into great depth on the topics of the bills, but you can read a great post about them here. And this is a related post I wrote back in 2008, before I became a mother. Later that year, James was born, and that experience changed my life forever. Two years later, I fought, literally fought my doctors for nine long months, to have the best birth for Rhys. I’m fortunate to have good insurance and access to great medical care, but my time as a pregnant mother with a young child was a constant up-hill battle. I chose that path and worked hard to create a happy ending, but many women in Texas don’t have the options I do.
Senator Davis is fighting for them and for me, as I write this, and no matter what happens, I am so glad she’s on our side.
I’m so happy the bill is dead! We need more great women like Wendy Davis!
I know! It was thrilling to watch history made last night. Let’s see what these next few weeks will bring.
This has been so interesting for me to read about. Here in Canada we just don’t have abortion laws — thank you, Dr. Morgentaler. When Morgentaler died recently people really started coming out of the woodwork with some nasty stuff, but I’m glad that there seems to be a general attitude of letting women make their own healthcare decisions, here.
I read this article (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/abortion-rights-under-fire-why-wendy-davis-filibuster-matters-20130626) and some of it is so crazy to me — falsifying the timestamp to fake the vote into passing?! I’m very happy people like Wendy Davis exist to counteract that kind of insanity.
It is a HUGE issue here, largely because of the divide between liberals and conservatives. I watched until after midnight last night, and I was so incredibly proud of Texas’ women for making their voices heard. It wasn’t covered much in the media, but I still can’t think about it without crying. Those brave senators and an entire crowd of concerned citizens made sure that a few men who wrote the bills could not decide the fate of half the population in this state. It’s far from over, but this was a dramatic response to the way things have been headed in Texas recently.