Rick Perry‘s Texas Republican state government continues to embarrass itself, demean and wage war on its women citizens. As if calling into a special session the Texas state legislature for the sole purpose of closing 37 of the 42 women’s clinics that are qualified to perform abortions, leaving only five in the nation’s second-largest and second-most populous state weren’t bad enough, this afternoon Texas state troopers confiscated maxi-pads and tampons from scores of women who wanted to attend the anti-abortion debate.
Keep in mind that in Texas, it’s legal for people to walk into the state house and legislative chambers with a loaded side arm, but anyone who wanted to attend the hearing was forced to hand over — in full view of the public — a tampon or maxi-pad.
“According to Jessica Luther, a freelance writer and pro-choice activist who has been coordinating much of the push-back to the proposed abortion restrictions over the past few weeks, Senate officials are confiscating any objects they believe may cause a similar disruption in the gallery during Friday’s vote,” Think Progress just reported. “Protesters aren’t allowed to carry water bottles or even feminine hygiene products, just in case they might throw them at lawmakers.”
//www.youtube.com/embed/0JsTSoeyweE
Meanwhile, as John Aravosis at AmericaBlog reports, one Texas elderly woman was videotaped after troopers took her maxi-pads and diabetic supplies.
“In front of, all of these male troopers took away my maxi-pads, and made a huge deal out of flashing them around and showing… and then saying that I couldn’t go into the gallery, I couldn’t take maxi-pads into the gallery. I’ve never been… I’ve never been so humiliated in my life.”
She adds, “This is too much, this is just like some third world country that we’re in all of a sudden.”
If anyone thinks this is not heinous, I ask you to imagine if your mother were one of these women, humiliated in front of what must feel at the time like the whole world.
#tampon collection as they let people into the gallery. #txlege #hb2 #sb1 #swtw pic.twitter.com/PtVX8eXAsL
— Shelby Alexander (@ShelbyLAlex) July 12, 2013
Video by Jessica Luther via Jezebel
Image, top, by Shelby Alexander via Twitter