Gov. Ricky Perry’s Abortion Obsession

Texas has some of the most abysmal reproductive health indicators in the U.S. It ranks #4 in highest teenage pregnancy rates, yet Texas still chose to slash the budget for family-planning services by two-thirds. Texas teens rank at or near the bottom in the percentage use of every major birth control method. And the Lone Star state has the highest percentage of people in the country without health insurance, both for adults and children.

So what does Gov. Perry announce as a major objective? He wants to rid the state of an essential health care service, regardless of the medical needs of women in the state. ThinkProgress.org reports:

Again, the ideal world is a world without abortion. Until then, however, we will continue to pass laws to ensure abortions are as rare as possible under existing law-Gov. Perry.

As we posted just a few weeks ago, Texas legislators have already signaled their intent to push for a ban on medication abortion. And anti-choice extremists are lobbying for a clearly unconstitutional ban on abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy. It seems clear that Gov. Perry will receive any anti-choice measures with open arms, making Texas an increasingly unhealthy place for women to live.