@ TX AG Ken Paxton continues to be the worst (re: abortion)

[beetea]

TL/DR: A woman in Texas who is nearly 20 weeks pregnant is seeking an emergency restraining preventing the state from enforcing its ban on abortion because her fetus has a lethal anomaly that threatens threatened her health and future fertility. The judge ruled in her favor but Paxton says that order doesn't shield the doctor from prosecution and that the woman qualify for the exception to the state's abortion ban. FTR, Paxton is not a medical professional.

Article.

[basilosaurus]

F(MF)FS. That deserves two fucks.

[penguingrrl]

Pro life my ass. Fucking asshole admitting people who anre or can be pregnant are only incubators.

[abs]

I can’t adequately explain how much I hate this man. Out of the trifecta of evil he might be the worst.

[ellipses84]

I can’t believe he’s still in office. Does your TX trifecta include Abbott and Cruz? Abbott is incredibly evil too and I think he and Paxton are in cahoots on most things Paxton does.

I have a separate list nationally but there are more than 3!

I know it’s not easy to uproot your life, but if I was this woman I would absolutely move to a different state. It’s terrifying people are having to deal with these situations in the United States.

[abs]

Dec 8, 2023 11:20:20 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

I can’t believe he’s still in office. Does your TX trifecta include Abbott and Cruz? Abbott is incredibly evil too and I think he and Paxton are in cahoots on most things Paxton does.

I have a separate list nationally but there are more than 3!

I know it’s not easy to uproot your life, but if I was this woman I would absolutely move to a different state. It’s terrifying people are having to deal with these situations in the United States.

My trifecta was Abbott, Paxton, and Dan Patrick but Cruz makes it a foursome for sure. There are so many evil people in charge here it’s hard to keep up. Sigh.

[beetea]

Dec 8, 2023 11:23:20 GMT -5 abs said:

Dec 8, 2023 11:20:20 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

I can’t believe he’s still in office. Does your TX trifecta include Abbott and Cruz? Abbott is incredibly evil too and I think he and Paxton are in cahoots on most things Paxton does.

I have a separate list nationally but there are more than 3!

I know it’s not easy to uproot your life, but if I was this woman I would absolutely move to a different state. It’s terrifying people are having to deal with these situations in the United States.

My trifecta was Abbott, Paxton, and Dan Patrick but Cruz makes it a foursome for sure. There are so many evil people in charge here it’s hard to keep up. Sigh.

Liking in solidarity, not in approval. 😭

[Pom]

As a former Texan, I can tell you that my loathing for all of the GOP dirtbags there, burns in an endless white hot rage. Ken is a criminal and a heinous shitpig. Crimes against Uvalde, the little boy that froze to death in my former town during the politically motivated power outage, the black woman in prison for voting after they told her she was legally allowed. The demonization of migrants, immigrants and asylum seekers. All those atrocities and more and now, this abortion crusade aimed at women, hurting everyone, but mostly women of color and low income communities. The cruelty there is evil and disgusting. We moved but we are a family of women and most everyone else is still in Texas, voting blue. I long for the days of an Ann Richards’ blue Texas. In the meantime, for as long as Michigan remains blue, we have a safe space for family and all friends, old and new, during this dark age of extreme hateful, religious bigotry. Planning to keep writing voter letters, donating, whatever, to end the oppression in these states ruled by tyrants.

[ellipses84]

Dec 8, 2023 11:23:20 GMT -5 abs said:

Dec 8, 2023 11:20:20 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

I can’t believe he’s still in office. Does your TX trifecta include Abbott and Cruz? Abbott is incredibly evil too and I think he and Paxton are in cahoots on most things Paxton does.

I have a separate list nationally but there are more than 3!

I know it’s not easy to uproot your life, but if I was this woman I would absolutely move to a different state. It’s terrifying people are having to deal with these situations in the United States.

My trifecta was Abbott, Paxton, and Dan Patrick but Cruz makes it a foursome for sure. There are so many evil people in charge here it’s hard to keep up. Sigh.

Cruz can be in a category on his own since he does absolutely nothing for the people in his state and is all about his own agenda. We only lived there a few years and moved away in 2017. Abbotts vendetta against Houston has only gotten worse since then.

[beetea]

Dec 8, 2023 11:52:07 GMT -5 Pom said:

As a former Texan, I can tell you that my loathing for all of the GOP dirtbags there, burns in an endless white hot rage. Ken is a criminal and a heinous shitpig. Crimes against Uvalde, the little boy that froze to death in my former town during the politically motivated power outage, the black woman in prison for voting after they told her she was legally allowed. The demonization of migrants, immigrants and asylum seekers. All those atrocities and more and now, this abortion crusade aimed at women, hurting everyone, but mostly women of color and low income communities. The cruelty there is evil and disgusting. We moved but we are a family of women and most everyone else is still in Texas, voting blue. I long for the days of an Ann Richards’ blue Texas. In the meantime, for as long as Michigan remains blue, we have a safe space for family and all friends, old and new, during this dark age of extreme hateful, religious bigotry. Planning to keep writing voter letters, donating, whatever, to end the oppression in these states ruled by tyrants.

@@@@@

My daughter is dead set on going to college outside of Texas and never coming back, despite UT having one of the best programs in the country for what she wants to do and having half of her tuitian paid from participating in a long term program with them. I 100% do not blame her, but I'd be lying if my purse strings weren't weeping a bit.

[msmerymac]

Dec 8, 2023 10:29:11 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Pro life my ass. Fucking asshole admitting people who anre or can be pregnant are only incubators.

And not even that! There’s no “benefit” because it’s not like the fetus will live, so it’s just destroying a woman’s life along with it for no good reason.

[penguingrrl]

Dec 8, 2023 16:27:38 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Dec 8, 2023 10:29:11 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Pro life my ass. Fucking asshole admitting people who anre or can be pregnant are only incubators.

And not even that! There’s no “benefit” because it’s not like the fetus will live, so it’s just destroying a woman’s life along with it for no good reason.

Yup. So incredibly fucked up. That poor woman.

[erbear]

Dec 8, 2023 16:27:38 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Dec 8, 2023 10:29:11 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Pro life my ass. Fucking asshole admitting people who anre or can be pregnant are only incubators.

And not even that! There’s no “benefit” because it’s not like the fetus will live, so it’s just destroying a woman’s life along with it for no good reason.

Right. The cruelty and control of women seems to be the whole point. We all know it’s not about protecting life or this woman would be allowed to save her own.

[MixedBerryJam]

Fuck a guy in texas who deserves to die a slow, painful, and yet easily avoidable death, and if he has a google alert for his name, IDEC. Come to my house and I’ll say it to your face.

[pixy0stix]

Has TX had any significant elections recently, or is everything up this election cycle? I want to have hope that a reckoning is coming

[MixedBerryJam]

Ken Fucking Paxton was just reelected a year ago, wasn’t he? He based his whole objection to his impeachment on the fact that “the people have spoken.”

[wanderingback]

Dec 8, 2023 18:03:43 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Has TX had any significant elections recently, or is everything up this election cycle? I want to have hope that a reckoning is coming

He was elected last year in 2022.

[basilosaurus]

Dec 8, 2023 18:40:42 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

Ken Fucking Paxton was just reelected a year ago, wasn’t he? He based his whole objection to his impeachment on the fact that “the people have spoken.”

Jerry Mander has indeed spoken.

Also, there are absolutely horrible people who think this stance is right and good. I was just watching something on Eric Rudolph, the guy who did the bombings at the Atlanta Olympics, a lesbian bar, and a family planning clinic. He was supported, applauded even, throughout the region, for his perceived holy war against abortion and gays.

The cruelty is the point.

[wanderingback]

The TX Supreme Court has temporarily halted the decision, not surprising.
Per the article 34 abortions have been performed and reported in hospitals in TX. And nothing has happened to those people and hospitals. Just goes to show they talk a big game and just want to mentally control people. So maddening.

www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/texas-abortion-court-ken-paxton.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[sent]

Are OBs leaving Texas? Because I would either leave or stop practicing if my profession was being invaded by non-medical people this way.

[wanderingback]

Dec 9, 2023 10:07:48 GMT -5 sent said:

Are OBs leaving Texas? Because I would either leave or stop practicing if my profession was being invaded by non-medical people this way.

Doctors (not just obgyns, since other specialties, in particular family medicine provide abortion care) are indeed leaving states due to abortion restrictions and bans (also gender affirming care restrictions). I know about 4 of my friends personally have moved. I do know others that are sticking it out and fighting the good fight locally and travel to other states to provide high volume abortion care at clinics.

Eta: fwiw obviously things are horrific now but there have been tons of restrictions for many many many many years. So no, most people weren’t leaving the profession even though politics have taken over the work we do. Many people in restricted states did want to provide care but the legal loopholes were too much to jump through to do so so they just didn’t provide abortion care and did the rest of their other clinical care.

[pinkplasticdoll]

Dec 9, 2023 10:07:48 GMT -5 sent said:

Are OBs leaving Texas? Because I would either leave or stop practicing if my profession was being invaded by non-medical people this way.

Yes. We have a board member that is an abortion provider and travels to other states to provide abortion, they have a practice in Texas where they provide dating ultrasounds and then the patient goes out of state for their abortions, sometimes they end up at a clinic the provider works at and other times they dont but the provider partners with a lot of clinics so they can give direction to those abortion providers. This provider will also provide ultrasounds post MA (really any abortion) to confirm completion and they also provide gender affirming care. Our fund works closely with other abortion providers in Texas and I can say that they are tired and keep fighting the fight. 

[sent]

wanderingback How about residency? How do OB or Family Medicine residents get adequate training in abortion procedures if an attending’s license is on the line for providing one in Texas or another similar state?

[wanderingback]

Dec 10, 2023 22:31:23 GMT -5 sent said:

wanderingback How about residency? How do OB or Family Medicine residents get adequate training in abortion procedures if an attending’s license is on the line for providing one in Texas or another similar state?

Training isn’t happening. It’s bad. It was bad before Dobbs. During residency I did 2 rotations away from my program for abortion training. 1 rotation was a 1.5 hour drive so wasn’t too far but I still rented an Airbnb for a month and the other rotation was half way across the country so I had to pay for flight, Airbnb, etc. There are some small grants that help with travel for training but still had out of pocket expenses. And again this was before Dobbs.

So now training is pretty much non existent in many places. And then even if you can travel for training the competition to get training at certain places due to the sheer numbers of people who need training, people just aren’t getting trained. I’ve also heard of cases where a resident from a banned state got a place to train out of state but they were told they wouldn’t get their monthly resident salary because the lawyers were afraid about them being on payroll and providing abortion care, or something like that.

So yes, it’s been bad and it’s gotten really really bad.

Can you imagine if a general surgeon had to jump through hoops to learn how to remove an appendix or gallbladder or didn’t get trained at all. It’s absolutely maddening. Abortion care is pretty straight forward in most cases so it’s not like you need to train for years and years to specifically do the procedure, so it makes it even more maddening that people can’t get trained in such a simple procedure.

[wanderingback]

Also since people are reading this thread and I should update the pinned post, but a reminder that people in all 50 states can get medication abortion pills mailed to them. Some states have passed "shield laws" so medical providers are mailing pills to all states and they typically arrive in 3-5 days. More information is at plancpills.org for a list of places where people can get medication abortion pills mailed to them no matter what state they live in. Spread the word to friends, family, kids in college, etc.

[litebright]

I'll also add to wanderingback's last point by saying to let your daughters know, especially when they head off to college, that regular BCP can in many cases be used as emergency contraception. You take multiple of the hormone pills, 12 hours apart.

I discovered this in college when I was working at a medical library and used to photocopy journal article requests, and someone happened to request one of the peer-reviewed journal particles on this topic (I made an extra copy for myself and kept it on-hand for years). If you scroll down in the link below, there are recommended dosages/which color pills to take of a couple dozen brands of BCP. I'm sure there are updated charts available with other brands as well.

www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2014/0401/p545.html

[beetea]

The Center for Reproductive Rights just posted that Kate Cox, the pregnant woman, had to leave Texas to get the abortion she needs. I'm glad she was in a position to be able to travel and my heart breaks for all of the people in a similar position who can't. This is all so, so awful.

[Pom]

When I think these assholes are at the bottom, nope.

thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4354860-texas-supreme-court-rules-against-kate-cox-in-abortion-case/

[basilosaurus]

Fucking assholes. It's not a viable pregnancy! There is no life to save!

Between this and tuberville and his supporters claiming that preventing travel for abortion care *increases* readiness which couldn't be further from the truth, I want them inflicted with hundreds of paper cuts before squeezing dozens of lemons.

Which is not nearly cruel enough of course, but I just squoze a lemon wedge and discovered a paper cut, and I want them to experience it all over everywhere. And then go stands in a pile of red ants.

[Velar Fricative]

Today's The Daily episode has an interview with Kate Cox, though it was recorded the night before her court hearing. I bawled during my drive to work. TW: For anyone not aware, I had an abortion at 21 weeks due to a poor medical diagnosis, so her description of how she found out the news and the process thereafter brought back a lot of painful memories for me.