Our Neverending Abortion War: Everything Is Bigger in Texas, Even the Misogyny

Here's something from LifeNews, your clearinghouse for every fucked-up, twisted, bizarre, misogynistic, anti-science, Jesus-fellating thought from the anti-choice movement: "Operation Rescue called each of the 23 remaining Texas abortion clinics on the morning of October 6, 2014, and confirmed the closures."

That's a reaction to the ruling of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that Texas can enforce its new worthless restrictions whose only goal is to close as many clinics that perform abortions (or stop them from being performed) as possible. Thirteen facilities closed, with one in El Paso ceasing surgical abortions, but sending women to a clinic 20 miles away in somewhat saner New Mexico for the procedure. But now 900,000 women in Texas do not live within 150 miles of a clinic. (If you want to know what the current burden is on women in Texas, check out Andrea Grimes's reporting.)

Creepy-ass creeps from Operation Rescue called every clinic, making sure the ones who didn't have, for instance, doctors with admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (in Texas, where you might have to drive 50 miles to take a shit in a place that isn't a scorpion and snake-filled dirt patch) were closed. As for the ones that are still open, well, they checked up on them, too, pretending to be patients who needed appointments for abortions in order to see if the wait times had gotten any longer. "Only Whole Women’s Health in San Antonio had a longer than expected appointment wait time, with the earliest offered appointment being two weeks away," says Operation Rescue's Cheryl Sullenger. They also got reports from the ground, from "pro-life witnesses who offer help to women outside" clinics.

They're nothing but helpful, these good Christians who offer succor and solace to women they see as terrified, confused, weak, and misinformed, not even considering that the women going to the remaining clinics might be strong, assured, and know exactly what they are doing and what to expect. In case you are the stereotype of the pathetic pregnant female, OR President Troy Newman says, "There are literally dozens of pregnancy help centers in Texas that offer free resources to women in crisis pregnancies standing at the ready to assist women with life-affirming help. With that kind of support, there is no reason for women to not get the help they need during their pregnancies."

And that's totally true. According to the Houston Press, "There are only two abortion clinics left open in Houston alone but there are more than six crisis pregnancy centers in the area." There's only 6.3 million people in metro Houston, not counting the undocumenteds, and there's a good chance a bunch of them are women. So why not go to the crisis centers, where you get such awesome counseling on how God will punch you in the cunt if you end the pregnancy?

Well, despite the fact that abortion-performing clinics have to meet stringent rules, crisis pregnancy centers are less regulated than nail salons. Oh, and "The Department of State Health Services doesn't inspect any of these clinics, not even the ones that offer diagnostic ultrasounds. The Texas Medical Board doesn't require the doctors to report if they serve as medical directors for any of these clinics." Some of them even offer pap smears and STD and pregnancy testing. All in the comfort of an unregulated, uninspected space where someone may very well proselytize about how sinful you are. Sweet. This is not to mention, as the Rude Pundit has written, the state of Texas diverted funding from actual family planning clinics to CPCs, so there are your tax dollars at work, Texas.

At this point, with gay marriage moving into the mainstream, with pornography easily accessible from anywhere, with violent and sexual content all over the airwaves, with marijuana slowly being legalized, abortion is the culture war's Alamo. It's the only place they have left for a last stand against the forces of secular sanity, the only place where they can whittle away at a right with rules and regulations, the only place where they can claim their hate is love without being laughed at.

The clinics have appealed the ruling in Texas to the Supreme Court, but that goes to Scalia, the most bloodsoaked culture warrior.