A Glimpse into Texas's Extreme Pro-Abortion Movement

A Glimpse into Texas's Extreme Pro-Abortion Movement

Andrea Grimes, a ‘reproductive rights journalist’ and supporter of Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis recently wrote two blog posts defending Davis that provide uniquely blunt insight into the extreme views and long term goals of the Texas pro-abortion left.

A firestorm of controversy opened up among liberals last week when State Sen. Davis said she supported a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. As the Dallas Morning News reported:

“Wendy Davis said Tuesday that she would have supported a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, if the law adequately deferred to a woman and her doctor.”

Davis, a Fort Worth senator and the likely Democratic nominee for governor, told The Dallas Morning News’ editorial board that less than one-half of 1 percent of Texas abortions occur after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Most of those were in cases where fetal abnormalities were evident or there were grave risks to the health of the woman.

“I would line up with most people in Texas who would prefer that that’s not something that happens outside of those two arenas,” Davis said.

Davis’s interview made news because the she had come to national prominence by staging an 11-hour filibuster in protest of an abortion bill being considered by Texas legislature.

Austin based writer Andrea Grimes took up the story in two places; a more informal blog post at the site of Jessica W. Luther as well as at her job writing for pro-abortion website RH Reality Check. Both posts defended Davis from attacks from leftists and Democrats who screamed that Davis had betrayed their pro-abortion principles by supporting any sort of ban on abortions at all.

By looking at the two posts by Grimes, readers get a shocking look at what abortion advocates who support Wendy Davis really believe and aren’t shy about saying to their peers.

RH Reality Check is popular source for abortion news on the left that brought close to $1,400,000 in revenue in 2012 and describes itself as ‘a daily online publication providing news, analysis, commentary and investigative research on reproductive and sexual health, rights and justice’.

LANGUAGE WARNING: ANDREA GRIMES UNCENSORED

As Grimes said on RH Reality Check:

“The national media has spun Davis’ statement as a betrayal, a grand leap of hypocrisy. We saw headlines like ‘Wendy Davis Is Pretty Much Fine With The Abortion Ban She Filibustered’ (Gawker), ‘Wendy Davis, Hero to the Pro-Choice Movement, Comes Out In Support Of A 20-Week Abortion Ban’ (Slate)”

It wasn’t just the left media complex in full freak-out mode; as Grimes reported, many east and west coast liberals were shocked that Davis came out publicly against 20+ week abortions. As Grimes said:

“This week on my Facebook feed, a D.C.-dwelling college acquaintance of mine–we attended New York University together–posted a story about Texas’ Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis. In his erudite commentary accompanying the piece, he called her ‘fucking awful.’

This guy is not a Republican; in fact, he described himself as a fellow ‘soldier’ in the political fight against odious abortion restrictions.”

Grimes’s argument to her liberal elitist friends is that Davis’s position is the only one she can practically take because…Texas.

As Grimes says on Luther’s blog:

“It’s real easy to write off Wendy Davis when you’re not facing the impending threat to your actual daily freedoms that is Greg Abbott.”

And…

“If you were looking for a ‘free abortion on demand’ politician, you weren’t looking for Wendy Davis. We all knew this. This is Texas.

We’re fighting against people who WANT TO REPEAL ROE VS WADE and TAKE FOOD OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF CHILDREN. We can work with Wendy.”

And…

“But this 20 week shit? Is straight up STANDARD PLAY for Texas Democrats. A position taken by lots and LOTS of our liberal lawmakers.

Like, were coastal pundits listening during the filibuster or just frothing over a pretty lady with fun shoes putting on a silly Texas show? Davis NEVER ARGUED against the premise of a 20-week ban. She argued against fetal pain and against a lack of exceptions.

The reality is that (pro-abortion) folks in Texas have known for a LONG ASS TIME that Davis’ repro politics are not on the cutting edge.”

About those ‘odious abortion restrictions’: to put “20 weeks of pregnancy” in context, let’s remember that 20 weeks is the halfway point for pregnancy. Here’s what a non-political site for expectant mothers called PregnancyWeek.US says.

“By the 20th week, you will also be able to tell when the baby is sleeping and when the baby is awake. You and the baby are on opposite schedules, you will feel the baby more around more as you are trying to sleep or lie down.

The baby should weigh about 11 ounces and be 6-1/2″ in length. The baby will start to practice breathing although the lungs will one of the last organs to fully develop. The baby is covered with light fine hair called the lanugo and vernix and is enjoying his happy home.”

Ms. Grimes appears to be unmoved by the medical evidence about the development of a human baby. As she writes in her RH Reality Check article:

“I think 20-week abortion bans are disgusting intrusions into bodily autonomy, and I think they hurt people who are the most vulnerable and the most marginalized.”

The vulnerability of the 20+ week old baby is not mentioned by Ms. Grimes, who phrases her opinion of a 20 week abortion ban slightly differently on the blog post version of her thoughts. She writes. “Do I wish Davis would support an outright repeal of the 20 week ban YES I DO. THAT SHIT IS FUCKED UP.”

Grimes continues to harp on a liberal agenda beyond abortion on Luther’s blog and writes, “I’m not looking for a damn tally of ‘pro-choice’ gotchas. I’m looking for a governor who believes in PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO FUCKING EAT.”

People obviously have a right to eat, so what Ms. Grimes is referring to here is apparently the right to eat food paid for by other people’s tax dollars. She opposes slight cuts to food stamp programs.

In her slightly more civilized RH Reality Check piece, Grimes phrases it thusly:

“Texans don’t need a governor who can pass a perfect pro-choice litmus test; they need one who isn’t chomping at the bit to repeal Roe v. Wade, who won’t privatize public schools, who won’t champion cuts to food stamps because they believe poor people aren’t entitled to eat.”

Ms. Grimes doesn’t just want abortion, however. She wants it freely available and she wants the state to pay for it. She doesn’t just love the idea but she loves it three times in all capital letters. As she says on Luther’s blog: “I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if WD came out all ‘free abortion on demand.’ But we are talking about REAL LIFE and PRACTICAL POLITICS. This is it.”

Davis wants medical exceptions today. Grimes and other Davis allies are clear that they really want ‘free abortion on demand’ but will settle for what they can get. However Wendy Davis describes her position on abortion, the goal of Davis’s supporters like Grimes is to move the needle sharply. 

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