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Rick Perry is a leather-boot-wearing, burnt-orange sporting, Colt-Revolver-holstering son of a bitch. It is no surprise, then, that his legislation for the state of Texas would mirror his Clint Eastwood-esque persona. But instead of mimicking a strong and silent rider, his laws are more like cartoon character Yosemite Sam: obnoxious, reckless and misguided. His “Sonogram Bill” (one which would require women considering abortion to have a sonogram performed to hear the fetus’ heartbeat before they are allowed by the state to abort) is a Texas sized slap in in the face of all modern women; proof of his religiously based decision making; evidence of his disconnect with the current female population; an irrefutable indication of his disrespect for the people of Texas, and their competency in personal decision making. Rick Perry: he wants the state in your vagina. Feel that latex glove massaging the cold blue liquid on your exposed stomach?  That’s Dick’s misguided government.

It seems as if Texas Governor Rick Perry just doesn’t care for women making their own decisions. Under his newest state bill, women are not allowed to have abortions without first having a sonogram of the fetus. It’s as if he is rubbing women’s noses into their own private issues, asking “Now, are you positively-absolutely-one-hundred-percent-bona-fide-with-sugar-on-top sure you want to do this?” Yes Rick, they’re sure.
Governor Perry’s party claims that the move to mandate sonograms pre abortion is based purely on informed decision making. His spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger explains, “Governor Perry was pleased to sign this important legislation, which bolsters our efforts to protect life by ensuring Texans are fully informed when considering such an important decision.”

When looking closer at the law, it makes the abortion process unfold like a cautionary tale aimed toward the patient. Under the new law, women are offered the “choice” of hearing the heartbeat, and seeing the size of the unborn fetus. The law also mandates women can refuse to listen to the heartbeat or view the images by signing a waiver saying, “I understand that I have the option” to see the images and hear the heartbeat. But unless the woman is a victim of sexual assault, a minor, or the fetus has a physical abnormality, she cannot refuse to listen to the description of the fetus’s development. The catch-22 here is that while they may opt out of seeing their life changing decision, they are forced by law to listen to the doctor describe size, limbs, finger count, toe count, heart rate and potentially sex of the fetus depending upon where the patient lies in her pregnancy. The decision to undergo abortion is tough enough on un-planned mothers, but to put a face, sex, and age on the fetus before it is aborted is indirect pressure by the Texas government not to have an abortion at all. It’s harder to “kill” something that has personality and a face attaced. After the patient has heard her doctor describe the unborn fetus in detail, she is sent home with a lollipop and a government-mandated 24-hour waiting period before she can legally abort. This is an effort to let her decision properly stew and fester in her already emotionally heavy heart before she makes any “irrational” decisions. Where most people prefer to gather information about a risk and quickly execute a plan of action, this bill takes that right away deeming the act impulsive. Most would argue that this is not an impulsive decision but one that would best be done expeditiously to prevent any further emotional toll on the patient than is necessary. Rick Perry is proving to be more of an overbearing priest than a cowboy. One that would rather say “well, you know what you should do, what we would do” rather than “You gotta do what you gotta do.”
           

What is most disturbing is the enforcement of the new bill. Abortion practicing physicians will be randomly inspected by The Department of State Health Services. If a clinic is found to be in violation of any principles of the law, they will have their medical licenses revoked. Texas is quickly becoming a picture of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 where the government has its eyes on the lives of every man and woman, dishing out punishment to those in violation a law that is theologically based.

But, who is most affected by this recent bill? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention it is mostly unmarried and logically sound women above the age of 20. While abortion rates are lowering, the illustration below challenges what we unfairly consider “prime candidates” for the procedure. The graph illustrates the high number of women who have given birth to other children choosing to abort, at a combined rate of 59.1%. Nearly two thirds of the women aborting have had children before and are perfectly capable of making the decision themselves. Governor Perry feels it necessary for the state to hold your hand and make sure that your decision fits his own widely known Christian based doctrine.

As if the state thinks women are uninformed about the process of abortion, Planned Parenthood-an organization which offers women’s medical services including abortions- clearly states otherwise. On the company’s website, they describe the process of aborting a fetus “Before the abortion procedure, you will need to do the following: discuss your options, talk about your medical history, have laboratory tests, have a physical exam — which may include an ultrasound, and read and sign papers.” This process is well thought out and falls under the umbrella of “if it aint broke, don’t fix it.” Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides women with an unbiased source of information about their pregnancy, and offers multiple options in how they can handle the situation, one of which is abortion. Rick Perry’s new law provides women considering abortion information in an attempt to dissuade them from aborting. What is not seen are the women in need of abortion for circumstances outside of their control. According to a 2005 poll in Lawrence Finer’s “Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives" Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, more than 70% of women who have abortions are not financially or emotionally ready for another child. 23% of women can’t afford another child, 25% are unready for the responsibility, and 19% have too many children already.  These statistics report only a quarter of abortions performed are to those who are not pressed by extenuating circumstances, and could be irresponsibly contorted to argue that these are performed for “personal gains”. When Rick Perry claims that he is protecting an innocent life in women’s wombs, he is more accurately condemning them to a life financial hardship, or emotional insecurity. He is attempting to rob women of their free lives instead of protecting their best interests. Governor Perry somehow sees himself as a savior for those unborn, in an interview he said “…50 million children have lost their chance, that is a catastrophic number, twice the population of this entire state", according to the Austin Statesman. After the bill passed in May of 2011, Rick was as giddy as a propeller-headed schoolboy stating “Today's ruling is a victory for all who stand in defense of life. Every life lost to abortion is a tragedy, and this important sonogram legislation ensures that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has all the facts about the life she is carrying, and understands the devastating impact of such a life-ending decision.”
          

The decision to have an abortion is ultimately an issue of women’s healthcare, and it isn’t the first time Governor Perry has attacked the matter. In July of 2011 Rick decided to cut federal funding of Planned Parenthood clinics in the state of Texas because of the services they offer. In an interview with MSNBC, Perry made a not-so-astute argument for the cuts in federal funding:

Perry: “We don’t want Planned Parenthood and their affiliates who are in the abortion business engaged in this process [federal funding for Planned Parenthood]. It’s pretty straight up…”
MSNBC Reporter: “But under federal law the money is not allowed to go to abortions under this program at all.”
Perry: “Well, we would rather be very sure of it.” 

The unfortunate part of Perry’s attack on Planned Parenthood is just how ill-informed he is. What he’ll have the public believe is that the organization is made up of Feminist zealots that abort every woman who comes through the door. In reality, Planned Parenthood offers an array of services to the surrounding female population. They provide more than four million HIV and STD tests every year; provide educational programs to more than 1 million Americans; administer 770,000 Pap Tests (performed to check for cancer) and 750,000 breast exams; 1 in 5 women has visited Planned Parenthood. The insanity behind Perry’s cut of Federal funding for the institution? Only three percent of the services they offer are dedicated to abortion.
           

It has been nearly forty years since “Roe v. Wade” established reasonable outlines for abortion and state’s interest in the matter. When it was settled, The Supreme Court determined that abortion within the first trimester was a medical decision, leaving medical judgment in the hands of the woman’s physician. In the second trimester, the state’s interest was credible when considering the health of the mother. In the third trimester, the potential for life was deemed a legitimate interest of the state and the state could step in and act in the mother’s best health interest. The system established by “Roe v. Wade” has worked, and allowed American women to make healthy decisions that benefit them financially and emotionally. In an attempt to dissuade women from undergoing an abortion procedure, Governor Perry has set back women’s rights forty years. He has outlined a law that favors the protection of the unborn rather than the living, breathing women, who struggle to keep their lights on, find viable transportation to work, and put food on the table. Maybe next week he’ll look into male masturbation prevention in an attempt to prevent the genocide of billions of “living” sperm that occurs nightly. Within the confines of Rick’s government, such ridiculousness is not impossible.