State Representative Carol Alvarado released the following statement just now on the 5th Circuit's decision that lets Texas enforce its crazy anti-woman sonogram law:
State Representative Carol Alvarado Statement on 5th Circuit Court's Decision on Sonogram Bill Enforcement
"The 5th Circuit Court's decision demeans nearly 40 years of progress by joining the Texas Legislature in telling women they are not smart enough to make the big decisions about their lives and their bodies.
The intent of this law, as described by the authors of the legislation themselves, is to reduce the occurrence of a legal medical procedure. To accomplish their politically-motivated goals, this bill forces doctors to serve as the mouthpiece of conservative politicians who want to coerce women into doubting themselves after they have made the most difficult decision of their lives."
State Representative Carol Alvarado is in her second term in the Texas House of Representatives, where she serves on the Public Health Committee.
 You may recall Alvarado brandishing a trans-vaginal ultrasound probe on the floor of the Legislature last session. Alvarado explained in graphic detail how the procedure works. Trans-vaginal sonograms are the only way to perform a sonogram on a woman who is less than eight to 10 weeks pregnant. Many women seeking abortions will fall into this category.
As Alvarado said at the time, "This is not the jelly on the belly that most of you think," she said as she held up a vaginal probe. "This is government intrusion at its best."
Republicans sure talk a good game about opposing "governmental intrusion" into our private lives. 'Government should stop at our doorstep! they cry. Unless it's the doorstep of a woman, I suppose. Do Republicans seriously want their wives, sisters, and daughters to undergo this invasive procedure, should they chose to terminate a pregnancy? (Because if you think nice Conservative white ladies don't have abortions, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.)
But hey, at least Republicans are doing everything they can to provide for the children who are the by-products of their policies of forced birth, right? They're funding schools, hiring teachers, expanding healthcare options? Right? Right?
The answer, quite obviously, is no. It's bitterly ironic that the Republican Party cares so much about preventing abortion, but does so little to provide for wanted children once they're born. While this law may still be struck down in the ongoing trial, in the meantime this decision by the 5th Circuit is terrible news for Texas women and the doctors they trust. |
