A Devastating Blow for Women Everywhere

Texas just (as of 9/1) has effectively banned abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy.

This remarkable (yet unsurprising) move is ludicrous for so many reasons. It reverses a half-century of precedent for legal abortion in the United States, which the solid majority (~60%) of Americans support, at a gestational age when many women don't even know they're pregnant. I care for women facing tough life choices every day, all day long, and am devastated for the women unlucky enough to live in the "(obviously not so) Great State of Texas" and for the doctors and other providers who might be deemed "complicit" (and sued or prosecuted) in supporting their basic human right and very personal (and often excruciating) healthcare decisions.  The longer I have lived on this earth as a human and the longer I have worked in medicine (and the more I have studied faith, like pastor John Pavlovitz), the more firmly pro-choice I have become, and I am currently livid at every Trump voter (or non-voter in 2016), every "pro-life" (really "pro-forced-birth but you're on your own after that") Christian, every "freedom"-loving libertarian, “don’t regulate my guns but uteruses are fair game” second amendment lover, and every woman who was complicit in allowing the cruel white men in power to make this horror a reality in the twenty-first century in the United States or who think this is remotely okay.  I am quite sure that Florida and several other deep red states in the south will follow in nauseating unconstitutional copycat suit, as the uber-conservative Supreme Court stays silent.

(and when Supreme Court seats were stolen and Trump was elected).

 (Very "PRO-LIFE" indeed, Texas!)

I've been to Texas exactly once in my life. While I know there are many nice sights to see there, and many good Texans (many of them friends of mine) fighting the good fight to elect responsible, humane leaders there (BETO!), a state ("Taliban Texas") which slides backwards into the dark age in this way will be added to my boycott list for the near future, although I will continue to donate to Planned Parenthood and seek out other opportunities to donate to reproductive justice efforts in that state. What a horrifying time to be an American--this is a country I don't recognize with millions of cruel people I wish weren’t my neighbors (or in charge of making Draconian laws). 

(Thank God I live in California, which is still reasonable except for the also ludicrous Governor recall election on our hands because, in a populous state, we have a lot of irrational, sick Republicans, too).