Thursday, June 27, 2013

A Texas SB 5 Update: Rick Perry Is Dragging The Bill Back From the Dead

Posted By on Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 11:54 AM

Things don't appear to be good for Texas's Goddamn Hero, Filibusterin' Wendy Davis and her fellow challengers to Texas's Senate Bill 5, which would impose harsh restrictions on abortion clinics in the Lone Star State. Texas Governor (and former presidential candidate) Rick Perry has announced that there's going to be a re-do, and that another Special Session will take place starting July 1, with SB 5 in the spotlight.

From the spectacular Texas Observer:

Once again, legislation restricting abortion — the same package Davis and her fellow Democrats worked so hard to stop with a filibuster and dramatic midnight showdown — will be front and center. With Republicans in the majority in both chambers, it would seem that only the time and date of passage are in doubt now.

“We will not allow the breakdown of decorum and decency to prevent us from doing what the people of this state hired us to do,” Perry said in a brief written statement about the upcoming 30-day session.

It’s another way of saying the governor, who got elected to statewide office when Democrats still ruled the state virtually unchecked, isn’t about to let them decide what happens on a major policy matter now that the GOP is in charge — particularly a wedge issue like abortion.

...

Congratulating Perry on standing up to the “mob” that he blamed for derailing the abortion bill, Dewhurst said Wednesday that state leaders were “willing to stand up in the face of pressure from Washington and special interest groups in the pursuit of freedom.” He got more aggressive in a fundraising letter seeking to capitalize on the incident, saying "Obama-style" protesters would stop at nothing to "undermine conservative Texas values."

Democrats, meanwhile, ripped Perry for calling a new session, saying it will do little more than waste money and punish women.

“Rick Perry is more concerned with feeding his own political ambitions — even if that means dictating to millions of Texans what they can and cannot do in the most private aspects of their lives,” said longtime Texas Democratic strategist Matt Angle. “Even if it means forcing Texas citizens to pay for his expensive partisan pandering.” 


Something appears to be rotten in the state of Texas — but considering that political gamesmanship won the evening on Tuesday, all's fair here for Texas's top elected executive.