Whatever happened to keeping abortion “safe, legal, and rare”? Those goals just don’t fit the needs of the abortion industry anymore.
Last night the abortion crowd, or perhaps I should say “mob,” achieved a minor victory here in the state of Texas. State Senator Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, managed to filibuster a bill which would help regulate abortions. The Texas senate managed to shut down the filibuster in time to vote before the midnight deadline, but abortion supporters made such a commotion, that the vote wasn’t able to be taken in time.
Why did a senator oppose the bill with hours of filibustering? Why did an unruly mob keep the senate from doing its job after the filibuster ended? Abortion supporters couldn’t allow this bill to pass because it made abortions safer. Yup. Safer.
The bill in question would require all abortion providers to upgrade their facilities because under this bill abortion clinics would be considered surgical centers. Only five of the forty-two abortion providers in Texas offer this level of care. Most of the others would have to close their doors because the expense of upgrading would be too much. The abortion market couldn’t bear the cost.
It seems to me that proponents of abortion have talked themselves into a corner. On the one hand, we have to leave these clinics open because we can’t risk that anyone would go to a back alley for an abortion. This is an issue of women’s health. On the other hand, abortion isn’t really risky, so we don’t need the added protections in place. Which is it? Risky or not?
It’s very risky for the fetus. This senate bill would make sure that babies who survive abortions would have immediate access to advanced medical help, the kind you get at a surgical center. The unruly mob doesn’t care about that.
“Safe, legal, and rare” obviously isn’t good enough anymore. This senate bill would have unquestionably made abortions safer in the state of Texas. It obviously would have kept them legal. And it would have made them much rarer. Why can’t we all get behind this bill? I suspect that Wendy Davis and her crowd want something else. How’s this for a new motto: “Cheap, legal, and ubiquitous”? It might not play as well with the public, but it’d sure be more accurate.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…