Texas State Senator Dan Patrick Interviewed On Forced Abortion Sonograms

Last week we reported on a bill in the Texas State Legislature that, if passed, would force doctors to verbally describe sonograms to women at least 24 hours before performing an abortion, even if the patient declines to see her sonogram. The bill will go before the Senate this week. Sunday, local Austin news station KXAN interviewed State Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) who authored the bill entitled SB 16.

Patrick, who organized a Tea Party caucus in the Texas Senate, says that women testified before a Texas Senate Committee that, at Planned Parenthood, they were never shown their sonograms, nor were they made aware that the sonogram was being performed on them. First of all, how do you not notice that someone is rubbing jelly on your stomach and scanning it with that sonogram doohickey? Whatever. Secondly, who the hell wants to look at their sonogram if they're going to get an abortion? But, if these so-called legitimate testimonials are indicative of the norm, why not pass a bill that requires medical providers to inform abortion patients that they are performing a sonogram on them and that they have a legal right to see it and/or have it described? Why force the doctor to provide a description of the sonogram to a patient who doesn't want it, unless your goal is emotional manipulation?

Patrick goes on to say that medical providers' argument that this bill would compromise the doctor/patient relationship is invalid because "there is no relationship between the doctor and the woman." First of all, that's a ridiculous overstatement. If, at free clinics like Planned Parenthood, patients don't get a lot of face time with the doctor, they certainly have a physician's assistant or nurse practitioner to talk to. To attempt to fool ignorant people with literal translations of doctor vs. healthcare provider is, once again, manipulative. Secondly, what about the thousands of women who get abortions performed at a private doctor's office? Those women get all the face time they want with their doctor. If this bill passes, they, too, will be forced to hear him or her read out a graphic description of their sonogram.

Patrick also sidesteps a direct question about how abortion is a Tea Party issue when the Tea Party's alleged main beef is limiting government. His answer, "It's really not." KXAN anchor Robert Hadlock then challenges Patrick on the issue of banning the death penalty. You know, since he's so pro-life. Patrick bats that challenge away again with one sentence, "It's a separate issue."

So let us get this straight: The government should keep its hands off my money, but put it all over my uterus. We want all the poor babies to be born, regardless of whether or not their parents are able to care for them, and whether or not there are any people wanting to adopt them. But when those babies grow up and end up in the prison system, (that, incidentally, makes the government and big business a whole lot of money), we have no problem pressing the button on them in the electric chair. Got it.