Oh, Texas, You Wilting Yellow Rose You

I'm usually very proud of being a Texan but not so much lately. If men could get pregnant, there would be safe, legal and free abortion clinics on every block, and RU486 would be dispensed from vending machines. Sad times for women's health and reproductive rights in my beloved state. And yes, this poster has her facts straight about the searches and confiscations.

It sounds like there have been overreactions on both sides, but it all started with people thinking they could thwart legal proceedings by basically rioting. Tough situation all around, but protecting children farther down the road in gestation and providing more accountability for abortion providers is not that radical actually.

I am very sad for the women of Texas who are being harassed simply for being women, no more, no less.

Funny how someone can care about having something thrown at them which couldn't remotely injure them while they work hard to implement laws which can greatly harm women, most especially targeting the working poor.

I'm really glad I live in Oregon.

ETA: wow, did someone really bring a can of feces? Actually somewhat apropos as I think the legislation there is more or less crapping on the poor.

Texas, the supplier of never-ending WTFery for the rest of us...

Confiscate jars of excrement to your hearts content, Texas, but I am over the top PISSED about the diabetic supplies. If people think that's reasonable to confiscate life saving items, well, then they don't know jack squat about diabetes, at least Type 1 diabetes. People with Type 2 can mabey get away with not testing or whatever, but things can get dicey really fast for someone with T1D. I highly doubt that all the people who had supplies taken away were Type 2 diabetics who don't need to check their blood and rarely need shots.

I am the wife of a man with T1D and the mom of two kiddos with T1D. The contents of my purse at this exact time contain:
Two packs of glucose tablets
5 juice boxes
1/2 bag of Smarties
2 glucagon injections
3 mini Milky Way candy bars
1 ten count bag of syringes- in case of insulin pump failure or high blood sugar with ketones
3 blood glucose meters
1 blood ketone meter
1 vial of insulin
3 pump supply changes- 6 items total

Denying medical supplies is illegal, and so is barring people who need those supplies from any venue. I'm glad for the hullaballoo that made them stop confiscating necessary supplies.

Flaming Turnip, you stated "There is no reason under the sun that a monitored diabetic would need a shot while they were there. " Sorry, but that's false for many, many people with Diabetes, especially those with T1D. Don't presume that you know what someone does or does not need based on what you know of 2 coworkers. A Type 1 diabetic needs short acting insulin to correct high blood sugars as well as to compensate for any carbs they eat, with the exception of treating a low blood sugar. There is EVERY reason under the sun for someone with a life threatening condition to have the necessary means to maintain optimal health during any given event.

Edit* @ Jo, so you know for a fact that diabetes was used as an excuse for bad behavior? Do you know for a fact that those who had things taken away were planning nefarious deeds with their supplies? And you also can't expect someone to be turned away from anything because of a disability.

I would have left. If I don't like the rules somewhere, I don't go. I think TSA is ridiculous, so I don't fly. Everyone has a choice to comply or refuse and leave.

I live in Texas and I have just about my whole life. Funny thing is, I don't feel harassed for being a woman. I have been a dirt poor working woman, and I didn't feel harassed then either.

I think it's interesting people from other states, tell me how I feel...when I don't feel that way at all. Go figure.

Well, being a proud pro-life Texan, I guess I would have been ok with some of the confiscations...obviously not the medical stuff but many of the protesters were past the point of civility. I know that is not the opinion of everyone and I accept that. Texas is a great state, it has never hidden the fact that it is a very conservative state and people can certainly choose not to live here if they feel the elected lawmakers are too intrusive. I for one love this state and when my husband and I were transferred to Orlando three years ago from the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, we let his company know right away that given the first chance we wanted to go back. Two years and three months later we finally made it back and am very thankful to live under the Texas stars again. Very sorry to hear that so many have such a low opinion of this great state :-(

I am proud to live in Texas. I don't blame the officers for trying to prevent someone from getting hurt.

FWIW, I hope the bill passes.

I live in TX and have for 20+ yrs. I love TX. We are one of the many economies booming right now. We never had the drop most areas did.

All I know for sure is that my company is up over 20%, many other companies are up as well and hiring.

I love Texas!! I don't bother with the attention getters who are not usually good specimens vying for popularity in the state.

You're making it sound like these people were the irrational ones when the protesters came completely prepared to throw feces, urine, tampons, etc and expose their lady parts?

Please.

WHO are the extremists here?

This is what baffles me about the left. They routinely make criminals out of the victims and celebrate the criminals, valuing their rights above others'.

Some protestors were planning on throwing the feminine hygiene products down onto the senate floor in protest (some on them had been used already). I find that tacky when thrown and abominable if pre-used.

They were collecting whole boxes of the products out of women's handbags...who carries around a whole 48 count box of tampons in their purse?? Much less woman after woman after woman coming into the building...you think the whole boxes of products didn't tip off security??

I found nothing about collecting diabetic supplies from a major news source...however being that my mom was diabetic, she would not have needed her insulin or blood sugar machine for an afternoon outing...all she would have needed was a few pieces of hard candy (peppermints, butterscotch, or the like) to raise her blood sugar if she felt it slipping.

Also having taken the license to carry concealed handgun class and gone through the process to obtain the actual license, that includes fingerprinting, a background check, an actual shooting test where you have to make a minimum score on a target, and a written test...I would trust those that have gone through the process to carry their weapon inside. It isn't like you get one of the licences out of a gum ball machine!!! It is a months long process...and you are vetted.

If you needed your items so badly then skip the debate...sorry some protestors ruined it for everyone by trying to bring in female hygiene items, gynecological instruments, condoms, and other gross things (urine and feces in jars) to throw into the galley that everyone's items had to be collected.

I wonder if anyone who had large boxes of tampons or jars of excrement also had a license to carry and was allowed their gun in...now that would be a story.

aren't liberals supposed to be the party of tolerance? So tolerance is coming to a meeting with bloodied tampons, bottles of feces and whatever else?!!?! WOW!!!

It was reasonable to remove the items that were intended to be thrown at others because they didn't like the decisions they were making. Especially since said items were meant to be used to intimidate said Senators.

It is obvious that the gun owners were more responsible and mature and were treated as such.

The diabetic supplies? I don't agree with.

When you are dealing with rabid liberals - you need to take all precautions...and they did.

They've drunk the kool-aide, that's for sure. They're going to screw women no matter what, and enjoy trying to humiliate them while they're at it. (And let them have a medical crisis to boot.) Of course it's not reasonable. But they don't care about reasonable. They don't care about the American people either.

I think the "security measures" were designed to humiliate and control women even more. They only stopped when they got out-humiliated through social media.

Seems to me public demonstration against unreasonable laws and restrictions started with the Boston Tea Party. Women are sick and tired of these political back-room deals by people purporting to have their best interests at heart. They are telling legislators they want the laws out of their bedrooms, doctors' offices, and vaginas (no forced ultrasounds, no waiting periods, no transvaginal probes. They don't want to go to another state for a legal medical procedure that is no one's business. They don't want to be priced out of it by having to travel to a huge and expensive medical center for an outpatient procedure.

I absolutely don't think that jars of feces and urine are appropriate, nor used items - nothing with body fluids. But I think it's REALLY essential to check reliable and verified sources on the amount and number of people involved. The entire women's movement is often dismissed because people were upset about "bra burners" in the 1970s. But that was a very small number, and at least one group never actually went through with it because they couldn't get a permit! But do you want to throw out all women's rights activists and their achievements? Do you want to go back to earning 50 cents for every male's $1? Do you want to go back to quotas for women in colleges and medical schools? No maternity leave? No parity in college sports? No women in executive suites or the military because they might be irrational with PMS?? So not every outraged woman in Texas should be lumped into a category with every other one in terms of the action she might have taken. They're just mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

And Flaming Turnip is absolutely wrong about what's needed for a brittle or Type 1 Diabetic. And to OnePerfectOne, yes, I agree, Rick Perry is calling it quits, but I think that's to position himself for another run at the presidential nomination, and I'm not sure anyone moderate will win the governorship. And the legislators are the ones responsible for this law so while I agree with you, I think it's too early to celebrate!

I think Texas, and many other states, have their priorities wrong.

Diabetics and those with a few feminine hygiene supplies should have been left alone. The rest of the confiscations were justified.

Ridiculous.
No way in H-E-double hockey sticks would I live in Texas!
At least Tricky Ricky is calling it quits!

I'm laughing at people defending this. Some things never cease to amaze me.

Also a jar of urine and many cans of feces.

Wow, really?

I would have never expected the support of some of you for people who would carry around excrement. I've seen the loving, kind way you have answered mothers in how to raise respectful children. It's a sad day.

I'm beginning to think government chambers should be more like zoo enclosures with plexiglass between the animals/politicians and the public.
Would it be possible to lock them into a cage and keep them there till their term of office is over?
On the other hand, it would be immensely satisfying to be able to hurl rotten tomatoes at them.

I have been searching for ANY credible news organization to show me where diabetic medications were taken from spectators. I cannot find one. So from where I sit? I see this as left-wing propaganda.

Spectators were there to cause trouble. That much is simple to see. Bringing bricks to a senate hearing? You find that acceptable? I do not. They took speculum's and coat hangers from people too. Why would a rational person being carrying a BOX of tampons? I am sorry - I never carried a box of tampons. That tells me the person was up to no good. Nor do I understand why someone would be carrying a coat hanger, a brick, a speculum or anything else like that.

I am sorry, I do not believe the medications being taken. I see this as liberal hype. All other confiscations were legit and warranted.

I am just amazed at all those who say, "We want the government out of our lives"; EXCEPT for when it comes to 'Women's Lives and Rights'. When will they pass a law to force men to have a vasectomy after the number of children the government says a family can have? Will they pass a law like that soon?

We all know that will never happen, after all its a mans right to procreate. Whether one is pro-life or pro-abortion, women need to fight for womens rights - let us decide what is best. I would venture to say, if it was on a ballot for a vote, the bill would not have passed. When all these unwanted children are here, and we saw the house pass a bill not including food stamps. If it passes the senate we are going to have a lot of starving children. I thought starvation was gone many years ago in the USA. Opps, so was the right for a woman to choose and all to vote. Looks like we are trying to go back to the 19th century and that is in many states. Will we have kids with extended stomachs because they are starving and can't get enough food? I thought we left that behind in the USA years ago. Will Texans take up funds to feed the hungry or will they turn their heads and say, "She shouldn't have gotten pregnant?" Btw, birth control doesn't always work - some people are unpleasantly surprised.

People that go over the top, regardless of their political "side", piss me off. There is news coverage of confiscated urine, feces, etc. on some regular news. Those idiots deserve to be kicked out. The packaged feminine products I thought were kind of an amusing protest "tool".

But both sides can act like idiots re. this issue. I came across this story - and it's just damn obnoxious.
http://now.msn.com/erick-erickson-conservative-activist-s...

People need to stop mudslinging and have more empathy.