Texas Republicans Want Government So Small, It Can Fit In Your Uterus (if you have no uterus, continue to enjoy your freedom)

Flexing their super-majority muscle in the Texas House, Republican lawmakers swatted away a swarm of amendments offered by the Democratic minority on Thursday and gave preliminary approval to a House version of a bill requiring doctors to perform a sonogram on women requesting an abortion. Declared an emergency by Republican Gov. Rick Perry, the measure passed by a vote of 103 to 42.

House Bill 15, sponsored by state Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, requires a doctor performing an abortion to conduct the sonogram at least 24 hours before the procedure was to take place. The doctor also is required to show the woman the sonogram image, play the sound of the fetal heartbeat for her and describe in some detail the image that appears on the sonogram. The woman does not have to view the sonogram or hear the heartbeat, although she still would have to hear the doctor’s description.

via Abortion sonogram bill advances in Texas House | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

I’m guessing is this going to include a rider to have police investigations for every miscarriage, just to make sure those inherently evil women (see: Eve) aren’t trying to sneak one by the “Small” Government Republicans bray so hypocritally about.

This whole think is sick and disgusting.   At least it was called what it is during the debate…

Earlier in the debate, Alvarado described Miller’s bill as “government intrusion at an all-time high.”

“So why would we be considering a big-government kind of bill?” Castro asked during discussion on the House floor. “Do you feel that the author and others that support the bill feel that women are just too dumb to make a decision they’ve contemplated for quite awhile?”

“I think it’s about shaming women, humiliating women and embarrassing women when they would have to undergo such a mandate,” Alvarado said.

That’s exactly what it is.  

To see how sexist, debasing, and targeted this bill is…just think for minute how much it will impact men.

UTPDATE: BTW, male Republicans lying about the entire nature of this debate is not a new thing.  Nor is it, in the slightest way, limited to Texas.

Newt Gingrich Running For President, the Only Way He Knows How

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Thursday established a website to raise money that will allow him to test a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

The step announced by Gingrich during an appearance in Atlanta is his first formal move toward a 2012 campaign and marks the first such move by the better-known GOP prospects weighing White House campaigns.

via Fundraising site to help Newt Gingrich explore 2012 run | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com.

The reason he is doing this is standard Newt.  He also runs about 12 other “Gingrich Brand” companies.  One of them is in the class of 527’s that run “issue ads”.  They don’t have to disclose donors and there are no limits on contributions.  They’ve got about $28,000,000 in the bank.  His “official” campaign, has about $1,000,000.  By using this “exploratory” b.s., he can skirt the rules for a while and hedge bets and all that.

BTW, he’s running, and is going to be ugly.  When there’s three, stereotypical, fat, white, rich guys running, it’s going to be hard to keep them apart (Newt, Haley, Christie).   Hmm, they all have gener-ambiguous names too.   Funny, that.