Women Must Show ID To Get Abortion [View All]

<http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/011604dntexabortion.26f98.html>

AUSTIN – In a move endorsed by abortion opponents but that critics say goes beyond the letter of the law, the state Board of Health on Thursday decided that all women must provide identification before getting an abortion.

The board also handed abortion rights advocates a partial victory, deciding not to require abortion clinics to give their clients copies of a pamphlet that critics said was designed to dissuade women from terminating their pregnancies.

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Kathryn Allen, senior vice president for Planned Parenthood of North Texas, said Friday that the new law has thus far proven to be little more than a nuisance.

She said that while the clients were "shocked and surprised" by the new requirements, they weren't dissuaded from aborting their pregnancies, as the supporters of the new law had envisioned.

"Women will do whatever it takes to terminate an unwanted pregnancy," Ms. Allen said. "We can either provide that legally and safe in this country and preserve the health of the woman, or we will go back in this country to women who will continue to seek out and terminate an unwanted pregnancy and die from it."

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I love my state. But damnit, sometimes it's more like a dysfunctional relationship than a worthwhile relationship.

If any of you really want to see what Republican dominion looks like, look no further than Texas. Republicans control most of the administration, the Governorship, Lieutenant-Governorship, Speaker, House, Senate, and the courts. My beloved Lone Star State has been reduced over the years of Republican control to an environmental wreck, an educational joke, a public health disaster, and perhaps the closest thing to a theocracy that you will find in the United States of America.

Regardless of who wins the nomination, I hope all of us will get behind them and, perhaps even more important, get behind our candidates for House and Senate. We need to stem the Republican tide in the House and if we're not careful we are going to lose our grasp on the Senate. I'd rate the House and Senate elections as important if not slightly more important than the Presidency this year.