It wasn’t the Alamo, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry wasn’t taking any chances. DAVIS, 50, says her real argument is against big government invading what she regards as a woman’s prerogative. WHO GETS abortions these days? By and large, four predictors: those who are young, unmarried, poor and black, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease and Control. Abortions among blacks are more than twice the national average.
Monday morning more than 100 heavily armed state police swarmed the Texas capitol to guard against abortion rights supporters.
Armed with truncheons and helmets, state police stood at the ready in case the demonstration turned ugly.
Hardly.
The crowd, an impressive 5,000 in number, were mostly women in bright orange T-shirts signifying their support for pro-choice.
Texas legislators were called back to Austin for a second special session by Gov. Perry.
Perry tacked on the extra legislative session to address last Thursday’s debacle caused by State Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour filibuster that effectively stalled stringent new rules on abortion clinics.
Thursday’s victory for pro-choice supporters will be short-lived.
The bill is all but guaranteed to pass Wednesday in the predominately Republican House and Senate.
The measure bans abortions after 20 weeks, requires that abortionists have admitting privileges at a local hospital and that clinics meet the same standards as hospital surgical centers. The last measure is expected to force the closure of all but five of the state’s 45 clinics.
She herself was a teenage mom. At age 18 she was married and had a child. By 19, she was divorced, dirt poor, and raising her daughter Amber in a trailer park.
But at that point, all similarities between Davis and the typical teenage mom part ways.
Davis was a determined, and smart, young lady.
She put herself through Tarrant County College followed by Texas Christian University, on scholarships. She then attended Harvard Law School, graduating with honors.
From there she joined a Texas law firm and made it big.
Her parents divorced when she was 11, when her dad pretty much left the scene. Her mother, Ira, had a sixth-grade education.
Davis began working at 14 to help support her mother and siblings. She was the first person in her family to earn a college degree.
Clearly, Davis is an anomaly.
Truth is, less than 2 percent of teen moms attain a college degree by age 30. Heck, only 38 percent end up getting a high school diploma.
Two-thirds of families born to unmarried teens are poor, and one-quarter of teen mothers go on welfare within three years of the child’s birth.
So yes, the predictors for success for those born to single, teenage mothers are dismal.
Ms. Davis is fully aware of the effort it took to rise above what for most people is a life sentence of low-paying jobs and limited opportunities for their children.
Ms. Davis chose to become a teenage mother believing she could buck the odds. The choice was hers. It’s a privilege she wants all women to be able to enjoy.
More than half say they do not want to bring a child into their current circumstances.
They are desperate. Abortion keeps their lives from getting worse.
As birth control measures have improved, the number of abortions has decreased significantly.
Someday, perhaps when men take more responsibility in birth control, abortions can be eliminated.
That’s the goal.
To help keep contraception as the predominate means of birth control, minorities and youths must have better access to birth control methods. Some work better than others. Those that are long-acting and require minimal intervention such as the injectable kind and the IUD, have very low failure rates.
Birth control pills and condoms can be effective, but have higher failure rates due to their dependency on consistent use.
As a society, we can keep unintended pregnancies at a minimum by keeping public health clinics funded and having our schools do a good job of teaching sex ed.
Davis was ready for a fight last week, by evidence of her wearing sneakers instead of high heels.
Her tenacity and strength among such hostile foes — her “colleagues” — was admirable. It’s amazing what one person can do.
Were that we all were so impassioned.
Wendy, you go, girl.
— Susan Lynn
Wendy Davis, you go, girl!
