Texas

Adryana Boyne: Courageous, Conservative Voice for Texas House District 102

Adryana Boyne is one of the most courageous, outspoken and well-spoken women I know – not only in Texas politics, but quite possibly in the world! What a blessing that she speaks for life, marriage and family and personal opportunity and responsibility! If you are in Texas House of Representatives District 102, you are blessed to have the opportunity to vote for Adryana to speak for you in Austin.

I’ll admit that I have longed for someone who can stand toe to toe with the minority women Democrats when they pull out the minority women victims’ card. Adryana, who is a naturalized citizen born in Mexico, educated at Criswell College in Dallas, Texas, and former missionary, founding member of VocesAction, and a speaker for True The Vote and many other conservative organizations, can certainly do that.
However, she won’t ever play the victim card. There’s no need.

It wouldn’t matter if Adryana had been born in her district and, like me, could only speak a few words of Spanish. This wife of an engineer (a minister who has served the Lord as a missionary) and mother of two young men is a stalwart, steadfast and absolutely fearless defender of Conservative values. She and I have walked the halls of the Texas Capitol in the defense of the right to life and traditional marriage and I’ve witnessed her powerful voice and presence  across our Nation as a speaker and advocate and as a moderator and participant on panels exploring current events and politics.

Please watch Adryana speaking on immigration and the 10th Amendment on Fox news (and watch Adryana overcome the effort of the Dem who tried to introduce a red herring), here. Take the time to read Adryana’s qualifications and blog posts at TexasGOPVote.Org and visit her campaign website to read the endorsements of other Texas leaders and her explanation about why her values moved her to run for office.

Texas (Democrat) Tort Lawyers for “Justice”?

If, like me, you’ve seen the promoted “affluenza” Facebook posts (here and here) about Texas Supreme Court Justices Nathan Hecht, Jeff Brown and Phil Johnson, take a look at this excerpt from an e-mail from Democrat and tort lawyer, Lisa Blue Barron:

From: Lisa Blue [mailto:lisablue@dandell.com]
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 11:56 AM
To:
Subject: Hey! The Texas Supreme Court has “affluenza” and favors corporate crony Republicans
1ST MESSAGE TO GO OUT TO ALL CLIENTS / CONTACTS. PLEASE DO IT TODAY.      As you know we have a real shot of changing the Texas Supreme Court but we need your help. With
regards to our social media campaign for the next 4 weeks we are going to be pushing our message out. We will need your firm to once or twice a week email and/ or Facebook out to all your clients / contacts different messages. If we all participate we should be able to hit at least 500,000 people – this is significant in terms of getting the message out and influencing the primary.
In order to facilitate this, I am asking that you cut and paste the below message and email to all your contacts and clients. Also to motivate others, please email back to us how many people you have emailed the below message too. Thanks. Lisa Blue / Paul Danziger

Ms. Barron holds fund raisers for Wendy Davis. She defended John Edwards and helped hide his “love child.” She is the “Irrepressible Widow.”

Tell me, who is more likely to suffer from “affluenza?”

LOL at the Bill of Rights?

     Last February 14th, 18 year old Justin River Carter made a comment during an argument with a few acquaintances on Facebook that would shock most people, but I doubt that many people would take his hyperbole seriously enough to feel threatened:

“I think I’ma [sic] shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent run down and eat the beating heart of one of them.”

 

The truly shocking and frightening thing to me, though, was the reaction of my own local law enforcement officials, including one who told San Antonio WOAI  radio that it was necessary to arrest and hold Carter for months, so there wouldn’t “be questions about why more was not done to stop him.”

I want to know why more was not done to protect Carter from abuse by New Braunfels and Comal County law enforcement community. No “LOL”  No “JK”

     The actual conversation that  caused Justin Carter to be arrested no longer exists on the Internet, according to Facebook. The only “evidence” is a screen shot clip picture of the comment taken by the person who called the Austin Police Department’s Crime Stoppers, incorrectly stating that Carter lived near a school in that City.  Based on that anonymous tip, Austin PD had US Marshals to arrest Carter at his job in San Antonio and transferred him from Bexar County to their jail on February 14, 2013.

      A problem – for the Austin police — developed when they eventually discovered that Carter lives in New Braunfels, not Austin. I don’t know how they found out where he worked, but couldn’t verify his address until after the arrest.

     One month after his arrest, and still without a court hearing, a search of Carter’s home, or any evidence that Carter owned a gun or had made any violent plans, APD invited the New Braunfels police to drive to Austin to interview Carter in their jail.  He spoke to them without his lawyer, because he foolishly thought that he would be able to clear up the confusion if he explained the comment.

     This was a huge mistake.

     Someone at the NBPD decided to file his own complaint with Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp, who convinced a Grand Jury to indict Carter for a third degree felony charge of making “terroristic threats.” (Read the Statute here.)

     District Judge Jack Robison doubled the bail from the $250,000 set in Austin to half a million dollars.

     Sometime later, Carter was moved from Travis County to Comal County,  where he remained in Comal County jails from late March until July 10th, when an anonymous donor posted bond on his behalf.

I’ve been told that the DA makes it a habit to charge the maximum possible and then offer “plea bargains” that are no bargain, at all. As long as the innocent-until-proven-guilty won’t admit guilt, the hearings and procedures can drag out for years before an actual trial. As to that ridiculous bail amount, it seems that it’s routine for judges automatically double the bail anytime someone is indicted, regardless of the amount of bail in place before.

     Carter, as is customary, was placed in the same jail with convicted criminals in both Austin and New Braunfels. He suffered injuries due to abuse by other inmates and his father reported that he was transferred to different jail facilities several times and was kept in solitary confinement and nude, on suicide watch, for many days.

     On December 12, 2013, Judge Robison announced his decision not to drop the indictment. The next hearing on the case is scheduled for January 28, 2014.

     A more complete review of the history of this case through July, 2013, is here.  You can read Carter’s mother’s version of the story and intermittent updates, here.

Just don’t get arrested for anything in New Braunfels. And don’t talk to our police without a lawyer, if you are.

In Third Statewide Bid, Friedman Hopes to Win With Weed | The Texas Tribune

What business does the State have in regulating anything that doesn’t require processing (and literally grows like a weed)?

Kinky Friedman is running in the Democrat Primary for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, using legalization of marijuana as a “cash crop.” (Read the Texas Tribune comments to see how much Democrats hate him for “stealing” Bill White’s votes.)

Friedman, 69 — a singer, humorist, novelist and hawker of tequila — has tried, frequently, to add “elected official” to his résumé. But his celebrity status and unique charm have not translated into success at the ballot box, and that seems to be an itch he cannot help but scratch. He has tossed his iconic black cowboy hat into the ring for the race for agriculture commissioner with what he calls a clearer focus.

via In Third Statewide Bid, Friedman Hopes to Win With Weed | The Texas Tribune.

Lies, Damned Lies and “ScoreCards”

It takes a long time to write the hard posts, so I’ve been putting this one off for a while. But with Primary season off and running, conservative groups are turning on conservative legislators and using political “score cards” to attack.

Let’s start with the most manipulated “scorecard” of all, especially now that someone else has stepped up to explain so much better than I ever could.

Texas Right to Life, the organization which was criticized by the Texas Catholic Conference for their “misstatements and fabrications” concerning HB303 and HB 1444, continues to make up whatever they wish, this time with their arbitrary  “Legislative Scores.” Their scorecard is so “Unconventional” and “perplexing” that it prompted the following letter, signed by all the Texas Catholic Bishops:

December 9, 2013

The Honorable Dan Huberty Texas House of Representatives P.O. Box 2910 Austin, Texas 78768

Dear Representative Huberty:

I am writing at the behest of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Texas to share their concerns about a recent “pro-life scorecard” released by Texas Right to Life (TRTL). This “scorecard” purports to declare which Texas legislators are “pro-life” based on a selective number of votes during the 83rd Legislative Session.

Unfortunately, the unconventional methodology and subjective scoring of the TRTL scorecard produced a number of perplexing results–including assigning low scores to pro-life lawmakers who have worked long and hard to protect and preserve life.

As you know, the Texas Catholic Conference does not use scorecards. Instead, our bishops encourage parishioners to fully form their consciences through prayer and education about issues. Scorecards are a poor substitute for that level of thoughtful policy engagement. Perhaps the most faulty implication of the scorecard is that, in its current form, it casts the tradition of Catholic teaching as being insufficiently pro-life–which is a patently absurd notion. TRTL does not have license to publicly define who is sufficiently pro-life or not.

Some legislative scorecards, when created objectively and appropriately, can be informative. If not, they stop being about informing the public and become more about advancing political agendas, with the unfortunate result that some citizens end up being misled about the issues and misinformed about the voting records of their legislators.

The recent TRTL scorecard selected only three bills (and assorted amendments) to calculate the scores out of the thousands of bills considered during the 83 rd Legislative Session. Several pro-life bills were excluded from consideration. For example, the TRTL scorecard did not include or minimized support for bills that would have prohibited abortion coverage from insurance plans provided in the Affordable Care Act healthcare exchanges (HB 997); prohibited sex selection abortions (HB 309); strengthened parental rights to reduce judicial bypass for teen abortions (HB 3243); or criminalized coerced abortions (HB 3247). All these proposals were unquestionably pro-life, yet were not scored equitably on the TRTL scorecard.

As a result of this selective vote counting, several legislators, who have spent their careerscommitted to pro-life issues, were said to “reject opportunities to protect the sanctity of innocent human life” when that is clearly not the case. For example, Senator Bob Deuell was responsible for requiring abortion facilities to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers (SB 537)—a key provision of the landmark prolife legislation that ultimately passed during the Special Session. However, the TRTL political action committee gave him no credit for authoring this pro-life bill. In another instance, State Rep. Bill Callegari was given no credit for his authorship of the parental rights bill (HB 3243).

The method by which the scores were assigned was haphazard and confusing. Some legislators were awarded more points than others for the same legislative action, while other legislators’ contributions were completely ignored. For example, Rep. Jodie Laubenberg and Rep. John Smithee both authored pro-life bills during the session, but Laubenberg was awarded 25 points for authorship of HB 2, while, Smithee was awarded only six points for authoring another pro-life bill that sought to remove abortion coverage in the insurance exchanges. In another example, Rep. Tracey King, who voted against both pro-life omnibus bills (HB 2 and SB 5) received a higher pro-life score than Rep. J. D. Sheffield, who voted FOR both HB 2 and SB 5.

Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. was not scored as pro-life, despite his co-sponsoring and voting for HB 2 and SB 5 and twice crossing party lines to be the final necessary vote to suspend Senate rules and debate on these bills.

What was most troubling to the Texas Catholic Bishops was that the scorecard appears to attack those legislators who supported perhaps one of the most pro-life bills during the 83rd session: protecting individuals and families at the end of life by reforming the Texas Advance Directives Act. Advance directives reform not only would have given families more tools to protect their loved ones at the end of life, but would have provided conscience protections to medical providers to refuse inflicting burdensome and unnecessary procedures on patients. The advance directives law would have changed current law to:

 prohibit the involuntary denial of care to critically ill patients, including food and water;

 prevent doctors from making unilateral “Do Not Attempt Resuscitation” orders without consulting families; and,

 require treating all patients “equally without regard to permanent physical or mental disabilities, age, gender, ethnic background, or financial or insurance status.”

The advance directives reform bill was a moral and compassionate approach to end-of-life care that was opposed by TRTL, but supported by a broad coalition of groups, including the Texas Catholic Conference, the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, the Texas Alliance for Life, the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, the AARP, the Texas Pro-Life Action Team, the Texas Conservative Coalition, and the Catholic Hospital Association of Texas. Advance directives reform was important to the Catholic Church–and to many legislators–because we recognize human life as a gift from God that is innately sacred–from conception to natural death. We have taken this position after much reflection to ensure that the law respects the natural dying process.

The implication to be drawn from this scorecard is that TRTL opposed the advance directives reform bill, and appears to have taken to punishing those pro-life legislators who disagreed with them by inaccurately casting them as not being sufficiently pro-life. That is plainly inaccurate.

In the case of the advance directives reform bill, legislators who supported the law were strongly pro-life; they merely opposed the TRTL’s position. These are not necessarily the same thing. It is unfortunate that so many members who continue to fully stand for life are being attacked for doing just that. We hope that this letter has clarified what would otherwise have remained an unfair and confusing characterization.

Sincerely,

Jeffery R. Patterson Executive Director

Texas Tribune interview with abortion-seeking couple

First, I hope and (am praying) Marni begins to love her child and allows her to live.

The Texas Tribune has published an interview with a couple whose baby’s life has been spared – at least for a few days – by Texas law.

Here’s the interview:

However, she found 2 alternatives within 2 days, so her rights are not at all infringed upon.

Marni is mistaken about the number of abortions in Texas every year. There were 66,000, not 80,000 abortions in 2012. 72,000 in 2011, 77,500 in 2010, 77,850 in 2009.

Marni specifically asks what sorts of “resources” the State and pro-life people have made available. She should have already known – and should ask their abortionist at her next appointment – about the Texas Woman’s Right to Know “Resource Directory.” She should have been given a copy at her first abortion consult appointment with Planned Parenthood. It’s also available online here.,  The file in pdf includes the information she asked about. The booklet lists agencies and assistance that’s available  from the State, County, and private organizations for pregnant women  in Travis County.

I’m not surprised that their comments are so political, and that John talks about politicians “shoring up their base,” etc., since that’s a common talking point for abortion advocates when they talk about pro-life politicians. I’m sure that someone at Planned Parenthood fed them the inaccurate statistics and coached them on the motives of people like me and the legislators who worked to protect life.

(I do have to wonder how Marni and John missed all the press leading up to the passage of HB2. You would think they’d have heard about Wendy Davis’ filibuster at least!)

Hopefully, when they see the way they’ve been misled about statistics, they will begin to understand that the prolife activists and politicians are as honest as we can be about our motives.

Lubock Abortions to Stop

\”Upon the completion of the transfer of all assets to Generation Healthcare, Planned Parenthood will no longer exist in Lubbock Texas.\”

via Lubbock Abortion Clinic Bought Out, Abortions to Stop – EverythingLubbock KLBK KAMC.

Food Stamp Enrollment Growth (with Interactive Map)

If Federal If the Federal government increases spending and decreases limits, is it surprising that people take advantage of it?

If you’re concerned about the news that the Federal food stamp program funding will be cut 5%, take a look at this map from the June, 2013 Wall Street Journal, showing the percentage of population in each state which receives Federal food stamps.

It is accompanied by a graph of growth of food stamp enrollment depicting periods of enrollment. That bright red line is Texas’ growth, which is nearly parallel with the US average, shown as a grey-green line. (Take a look at the annual spikes of Alaska’s enrollment, which I guess is due to the disbursement of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend.)

But take a look at the growth since the “Stimulus” was passed by the Dem-controlled House and Senate, nearly doubling funds for food stamps and increasing the number of recipients from 28 million to 48 million.Since the increase in enrollment has been over 70%, that 5% cut in payments will not bring the spending levels back to pre-recession levels. Wouldn’t it make sense to tighten up on the eligibility requirements, rather than make an across-the-board cut?

Good deed, punished

My local Canyon Independent School District, in Comal County, Texas, has a proposal for a $451 Million Bond on the ballot in November.

“”The fast-growing district’s Nov. 5 ballot initiative is more than double its largest past bond issue, a $205.8 million package approved in 2008. Its size, and a lack of specifics on when new campuses will open, is drawing criticism.””

Out of the goodness of our hearts, Texas’ voters have agreed to “freeze” taxes for our neighbors over 65 years old. Will we be repaid by Seniors’ voting for every tax hike that comes along? Our grand-children will be paying for this bond, whether or not we will. We owe those future young adults our best judgment and our restraint.

Gohmert Refuses to Take Subsidy Others Don’t Get #MakeDCListen

Representative Louie Gohmert (Republican from my old home in East Texas) leads the way: refuse ObamaCare subsidy if you can afford it.

“House Republicans have voted for and sent the Senate two different bills, because we have been offering compromises, even to the extent of compromising with ourselves because Senate Democrats and the President have refused to negotiate at all. They have made clear that they will negotiate with Russians and Iranians, but will not negotiate with Americans.”

via Gohmert Refuses to Take Subsidy Others Don’t Get : U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert.

Abortionists file suit against (only 2) new Texas regulations

The (oxymoronic) “Center for Reproductive Rights” and other abortionists have filed suit to prevent two of the provisions of Texas’ new requirements on doctors who perform abortions – not on the management or owners of the abortion facilities. The new law becomes effective October 29, 2013 and was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.

From the on-line, liberal Texas Tribune:

The next stage in abortion rights advocates’ efforts to block implementation of strict new regulations on the procedure in Texas began on Friday, as the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union and a group of abortion providers across the state filed a lawsuit in federal court.

 

 

Everyone in Texas politics has been waiting for the lawsuit(s) challenging this summer’s hotly debated legislation. Surprisingly, the abortionists aren’t asking the Courts to stop the prohibition on elective abortions after 5 months or on the requirement that abortion facilities meet requirements for Ambulatory Surgical Centers. Instead, only two parts are challenged and both are requirements on the State-licensed doctors, not on the facilities.

The dispute is over the requirement that doctors personally hand the pills for medical abortions to their patients, rather than delegating the dispensing to a nurse or med tech or sending the woman home to take the pill. Doctors must also have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the office or facility where they perform abortions, so that they are able to admit their patients and care for any complications that might arise from the abortions they perform.

The agreement that doctors sign with the company that makes Mifeprex (also known as RU486 or mifepristone) was reaffirmed a year ago by the FDA. By signing the contract with the manufacturer, the doctors pledge that they will dispense the pills themselves. State law now requires them to keep their word.

As to the requirement that the doctors performing surgical and medical abortions maintain hospital privileges: It’s standard of care to expect doctors to care for complications of any intervention they perform – whether it’s setting a broken bone, cleaning an abcess or performing some outpatient surgery such as removing a mole or ingrown toenail. To fail to provide timely follow-up and/or call coverage for after-hours care is abandonment. Why should it be different for Doctors intervening to perform an abortion?  When I delivered babies, those of us who were on call for Obstetrics had to be able to physically show up at the hospital (and patients’ bedside) within 30 minutes in order to maintain hospital privileges. My Family Medicine privileges (without OB) required me to be able to respond (if not appear at the hospital) within a certain time. (I can’t remember the specifics, but believe it was similar.)

We’ll see if the Austin-area federal judges think it’s appropriate for the State to regulate the physicians we license. I’m especially looking forward to hearing why the State is “unconstitutional” by holding physicians to a contract they’ve already signed.

Federal budget: No real Republican divide

If you only read the headlines and first paragraphs of – or the inflamed comments on – the media coverage of the debate over the Federal budget, you might believe that Republican leaders in the Senate are caving to the Democrats on funding Obamacare. In fact, Senators Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn and Senate Republicans recognize and support the House Continuing Resolution which fully funds the Federal government while defunding Obamacare.

There aren’t just two sides to the story. In fact, the media reports obscure that there are three factions: Harry Reid’s Dems, Republicans who support for the House continuing resolution, and In fact, there are three factions: Harry Reid’s Dems, the Republicans who are garnering support for the House continuing resolution, and the Republican efforts led by Senator Ted Cruz to block even the House Bill by filibuster. Hopefully, Senator Cruz will acknowledge that the House CR makes his filibuster unnecessary.

The House Continuing Resolution is a good Bill, allowing the continuation of the Federal government into December. It’s true that the whole budget debate will continue — but wouldn’t it any way?

PolitiFact Texas on Barry Smitherman, “guarantee” to escape poverty

“. . . graduate from high school, keep your first job for over 1 year, get married and stay married.”

Common sense, right? Okay, it’s not as easy as 1-2-3, and association doesn’t equal causation, but who would argue, right?

“Politifact Texas” would. The Politifact.com website claims to fact check political news and news makers’ comments, and has a Texas Edition. In my opinion, they tend to hit such comments from the Left of center. In this case, they seem to go out of their way to prove Texas Rail Road Commissioner Barry Smitherman wrong, but – even by stressing the importance of the economy in the equation – they prove him right.

Take a few steps, Barry Smitherman said, and you won’t live in poverty. Smitherman, seeking the 2014 Republican nomination for Texas attorney general, put his point this way in prepared remarks for an Aug. 26, 2013, appearance before the Texas Alliance for Life: “Several years ago, the Economist magazine published a piece which said that you only have to do three things to guarantee that you will live above the poverty line—graduate from high school, keep your first job for over 1 year, get married and stay married.”

via PolitiFact Texas | Smitherman partly captures virtual guarantee to escape poverty, but theory also relies on economy being strong.

 

The rest of the article traces the history of the publications that make the claims to which Commissioner Smitherman refers.

Just take care of the patient

What causes a frail elderly person to become a patient in the hospital and can we do something in the home to prevent that event?  What causes some people to develop chronic illnesses and can other people intervene to prevent the consequences of those illnesses?

What if healthcare reformers asked these questions rather than focusing (or appearing to focus) only on costs? Better yet, what if they recognized the system changes that work, rather than insisting that all doctors must become employees of mammoth organizations, touting the business opportunities inherent in expensive, user-unfriendly electronic medical records and/or forcing an even more expensive change from the 5-digit medical diagnosis codes in ICD-9 to the 7-digit ICD-10 codes?

The source for the graph above is a report by the Oliver Wyman Healthcare Innovation Center, reviewed in Forbes Magazine last January by author Dave Chase. Yes, 5% of patients are responsible for 45% of the costs. What works to lower costs? Taking care of the patient:

In 2008, when physicians from CareMore, an independent medical group based in Cerritos, California, heard news reports of a brutal heat wave, they began contacting their elderly emphysema patients. Physicians worried that the scorching heat would drive their at-risk Medicare Advantage patients to the emergency room. So when patients said they had no air conditioner, the physicians purchased units for them. The theory was that the roughly $500 cost paled in comparison to the cost of an emergency-department admission. As it happened, this non-medical “intervention” kept CareMore’s patients out of the hospital. But if they had needed to go and lacked transportation, CareMore would have offered a free ride.
CareMore has an expansive, counter intuitive approach to healthcare. The group fends off falls by providing patients with regular toenail clipping and by removing shag rugs—a common household risk for the elderly. Patients engage in iPhone conference calls with healthcare professionals and are remotely monitored with devices that feed data automatically to doctors;  for example, patients with congestive heart failure are given a wireless scale that reports their weight on a daily basis—a key step in preventing hospitalization. They have singing pillboxes that chime when it’s time to take medications.

These unusual tactics produce enviable outcomes: CareMore’s  hospitalization rate is 24 percent below average, hospital stays are  38 percent shorter than average, and the amputation rate among diabetics is 60 percent below average. Overall member costs are roughly 18 percent below the Medicare average.

The electronic medical record helped CareMore identify patients at risk, but the EMR is a minor tool compared to the minds of the innovators who recognized the real problems and acted in the best interest of the patients.

Podcast: Stop ObamaCare – Greg Abbott

From the Greg Abbott Campaign website:

Communications Director Matt Hirsch speaks with Dr. Beverly Nuckols on location at The Texas Mailhouse in Austin about the negative impact ObamaCare is having on small businesses and the health care industry, while U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services tries to sell an unworkable, expensive healthcare takeover in Texas.

via Podcast: Stop ObamaCare – Greg Abbott.

(I’m a doctor, not an audio/visual expert. And I certainly can’t afford one. Since I can’t get the podcast to embed, so please go to the site. While you’re there, volunteer, donate, help out!)

Texas or DC: Who do you want regulating your doctor?

Peggy Fikac once again proves that she’s not a reporter, and most certainly not anything like a fair and balanced media representative.

From the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of events in Austin, today:

“Obamacare is the wrong prescription for American health care, and I will never stop fighting against it,” Abbott said, joined by small business people and a doctor who also oppose the law at a company, the Texas Mailhouse.

One reason that Abbott gave for fighting the law came in response to a doctor who asked him from the audience about what Texas could do to keep the federal law from interfering with doctors’ judgment about the best way to treat their patients.

“You’re raising one of the more challenging components of Obamacare, and a hidden component in a way, and that is government is stepping in between the doctor-patient relationship and trying to tell you what you can and cannot do, interfering with both your conscience and your medical oath to take care of your patient,” said Abbott, who is campaigning to succeed Gov. Rick Perry.

That is similar to arguments raised against tighter abortion restrictions approved in special session, including a ban on the procedure at 20 weeks, along with stricter regulations on clinics and abortion-inducing drugs.

 

I am that doctor from the audience. Ms. Fikac is correct that I voiced concern over the Federal interference between the patient and the doctor. She’s flat wrong about Texas regulation of medicine by bring abortionists up to standards being equivalent to the

I prefaced the question by noting that it is the State of Texas that properly regulates Texas Doctors and medicine. At the State level, patients and doctors have more influence on our elected officials and the people they appoint to write regulations and enforce the law than we do on the Federal level.

I also noted that because of the increasing interference over the years by Medicare, I am concerned about the reach that this new set of regulations will have, including ever-invasive micro-reporting of patient’s private medical conditions. (I named the upcoming move to the ICD-10, which will be a nightmare, requiring doctors to make distinctions between medical conditions, out to five (5) decimal places.

As bad as the bureaucracy of the Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have been in the past, I don’t look forward to the additional layer of IRS income verification, audits and enforcement.

We could stick closer to home, with the Texas Health and Human Services, the Texas Medical Board, and the Texas Insurance Commission!

Texas Still Fighting Funding to Planned Parenthood!

In spite of repetitive fraud, in spite of Texas’ laws prohibiting sending money to affiliates of abortionists, in spite of all our work.

Planned Parenthood clinics could be facing a legal fight that could keep them from receiving funding for impoverished Medicaid patients.

When the state passed the Women’s Health Program in 2005, legislators said the intent was to provide more family planning services, but not abortions, to low-income Medicaid patients.

State Sen. Bob Deuell said due to a loophole in the law, Planned Parenthood is part of the program, but thinks they shouldn’t be. As such, he has requested the attorney general clear up the matter.

*****

While Sen. Deuell admits he isn’t in favor of Planned Parenthood, he said his “goal is to provide comprehensive care and — abortion issue aside — the Planned Parenthood clinics don’t provide comprehensive care.”

It could take Attorney General Greg Abbott months to give his opinion.

In a brief HHSC officials sent to Abbott, they told him if the agency limits providers based on the way the law currently reads, the state risks violating Medicaid rules. State health officials said that could result in a loss of federal funding for the program.

via AG to rule on Planned Parenthood funding question – YNN – Your News Now.

Texas Planned Parenthood pays $4.3M (but media attacks Greg Abbott)

The $1.4 Million previously reported was the part that Texas will receive, not the total. Can you guess how the (very few) media reports (if you can find them) are playing the story?

From the July 30, Houston Chronicle:

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Tuesday settled a whistle-blower lawsuit that alleged the Houston nonprofit engaged in fraudulent Medicaid billing for $4.3 million – nearly $3 million more than was announced last week by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Yes, Planned Parenthood is quoted as claiming that the settlement for the AG’s finding that they are guilty of over $30M in fraud is “baseless” and simply a way to end harassment and to avoid turning over the (altered) medical records of patients. But the spin on the story is that Texas’ Attorney General, Greg Abbott, didn’t report the total and sent out his announcement before the settlement was signed by all parties.

My news search yields some op-eds and stories by Texas’ newspapers and a few more on pro-life sites.

Protect the right to life – San Antonio Express-News

I wrote this to the San Antonio Express News, in response to an “Other Views” Commentary a couple of weeks ago that claimed our pro-life HB2 violated the “separation of church and state.” It was rife with errors, easily corrected:

1. Abortion isn’t “private.” It is performed by licensed doctors in licensed abortion facilities, under laws regulating the practice of medicine passed by the elected Legislature of the state of Texas.

2. Women’s health and family planning clinics that offer federal and state funded health and cancer screenings and contraception are prohibited by both state and federal law from performing elective abortion. These clinics aren’t licensed abortion facilities and aren’t affected by HB2.

3. After Pennsylvania, Virginia and Missouri passed laws requiring safety standards similar to those in HB2, most abortion facilities in those states remained open.

4. Abortion facilities are allowed 16 months to come up to standard. If abortion facilities close, it will be because business owners decide not to invest in their facilities.

5. HB2, like earlier Texas laws, protects the mother if her life is endangered by continuing the pregnancy.

6. HB2 doesn’t create any criminal charges for the mother, only for physicians who perform illegal abortions after five months.

HB2 does require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges in case their patients have complications requiring hospitalization and abortion facilities to meet building standards known to improve patient safety.

More, including some philosophy, via Protect the right to life – San Antonio Express-News.

Medicaid Expansion: money, politics, and plain talk

Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune only sees the political debate behind both HB2’s restrictions on abortion and Medicaid expansion.

The state didn’t expand its Medicaid program, and you’ll still find legislators across the spectrum thinking about the consequences, good or bad.

This summer’s debate on abortion restrictions turned entirely on politics. It wasn’t about the money.

via The Economic Debate Behind the Political Debate | The Texas Tribune.

Lay aside the silliness that any Conservative considers abortion simply about the money or politics. Let’s look at the Medicaid debate.  Rather than the TT’s simplistic view of “9 Federal dollars for every 1 dollar the State spends,” remember that the operative word in “Medicaid expansion” is “expansion.”

Under the expansion, the only criteria would be income. Any asset test or obligation to look for work would be forbidden by Federal law.

Healthy men and women who choose not to work, not those on disability – and even those whose employers offer some sort of health insurance would have come under the State’s Medicaid.  Many more would find it “cheaper” to quit work or avoid work and go under Medicaid and other benefits.(Back when I was delivering babies, I had several two-income families who found it better for mom to quit work after she became pregnant, since Medicaid picked up the cost of insurance and co-pays for her and the kids.)

I remember a tall, healthy-appearing (I’m qualified to judge, BTW) 30-year-old man who testified against HB2 and all its precursors. He not only showed up for repeated Committee meetings, he was there every time there for the House and Senate hearings. He loudly claimed to be a Texas law school graduate who is (STILL!) unemployed – and criticized and ranted at our Legislators for not “giving” him a job and benefits. Who wants to pay his Medicaid?

The expansion wouldn’t significantly cut the oft-quoted high rate of uninsured in Texas, even according to TT’s own numbers. Over 1/2 of Texas’ uninsured make too much money for Medicaid, and 1/3 make more than $50,000 a year.  Lawbreaking immigrants (someone’s bound to be insulted if I use the term “illegal immigrants”) make up 1/4 of the uninsured, but they wouldn’t be covered without breaking a few more laws. The disabled, low-income mothers and children and the elderly in nursing homes would have continued to be covered under current programs – at least as long as the money holds out.

We Paid for Those Abortions | National Review Online

A question for @GregAbbott_Tx: When will charges be filed?

Planned Parenthood has been found to be guilty of Medicaid fraud including altering medical records and even making taxpayers pay for abortions!  History from California in 2004, New York in 2008, others in New Jersey and Washington state. And now, a settlement for $1.4 Million in 2013 in Texas.

“[W]hat are we to make of a consistent pattern of overbilling and fraud across several states, involving millions upon millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money? Given the impenitent attitude of the Texas affiliates and the Planned Parenthood central command, perhaps it is time to inform Cecile Richards & Co. that orange is the new black.”

via We Paid for Those Abortions | National Review Online.

Planned Parenthood settles Medicaid Fraud (Update 2 on 8-5-13)

Good news for Texas, but it seems there should be more penalties for falsifying records!

Texas Attorney General’s Office Obtains $1.4 Million Settlement against Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast for Medicaid Fraud

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast fraudulently billed Texas Medicaid program for products, services either not provided or not necessary

HOUSTON – The Texas Attorney General’s Office today concluded the State’s Medicaid fraud investigation into Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. Under today’s agreement, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast must pay $1.4 million for fraudulently overbilling the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program.

After a whistleblower lawsuit was filed alleging improper billing practices by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, an investigation was opened by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General. The State’s investigation revealed that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast improperly billed the Texas Medicaid program for products and services that were never actually rendered, not medically necessary, and were not covered by the Medicaid program – and were therefore not eligible for reimbursement. For example, state investigators determined that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast falsified material information in patients’ medical records in order to support fraudulent reimbursement claims to the Medicaid program.

via Texas Attorney General.

Update: Of course, PP is saying the claims are “baseless,” and that they paid all that money to rid themselves of a nuisance suit! (See Texas Tribune’s “reporting”  here.)

Update 2 on August 5, 2013: The total that PP agreed to pay is actually $4.3 Million. The first number was just that portion that will be paid to Texas.

La. already has Texas abortion limits | The Town Talk | thetowntalk.com

Louisiana has many of the same restrictions on the books, but they passed with few significant fights in the Legislature and none of the massive protests. The state has added nearly any legal limit it can find on abortion — and several that courts have said weren’t legal.

As they have added new statutes, the bills passed with overwhelming and bipartisan support and with Louisiana lawmakers acknowledging that they hope to lower the number of abortions with each restriction.

Unlike in Texas, Louisiana’s debates don’t showcase a deep divide between Republicans and Democrats. A handful of Democrats oppose the abortion restrictions, but often far more of Louisiana’s Democrats vote to support the measures. A few individuals show up to committee hearings to complain about the latest proposed abortion restrictions, but the bills don’t attract widespread outrage.

via La. already has Texas abortion limits | The Town Talk | thetowntalk.com.

DPS Director Responds to Letter on Security Report | The Texas Tribune

File under “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Officers simply gave visitors the choice to throw away their goods and come in or to take them away and leave, he said. No arrests were made, and no jars were confiscated.

via DPS Director Responds to Letter on Security Report | The Texas Tribune.

Similarly, most of the people who were detained before the night of July 12th were released by police at the Capitol exit door, and allowed re-entry. At least 5 who were arrested for disrupting a House session on July 10th, were released without charges and within 5 hours, according to the Houston Chronicle, when the Magistrate found “insufficient probable cause.” What does that say about Austin/Travis County justice system, that a DPS can arrest a woman, that there are videos all over the ‘Net, and yet the Magistrate can’t find “probable cause?”

Update: one of those women arrested on July 12th was one of the 5 released on the 10th, also according to the Houston Chronicle.

Christian Medical Association on HB2

Here’s my piece for the Christian Medical and Dental Association’s “The Point,” a weekly newsletter on current events. (This isn’t a 250 word discussion — I snuck in 275 words!)

“At what point do humans become human enough to have the right not to be killed? How should society balance protection for women who choose to abort their children with the burden imposed by that protection?

“While 62 percent of Texasⁱ and 59 percent of U.S. votersⁱⁱ support a ban after 20 weeks, opponents of the bill stormed the Capitol, disrupted hearings and threatened lawsuits that will likely decide whether the law is enforced. In the middle of the noise, both sides told legislators painful stories about the effect of abortion on their lives.

“Texas’ new law bans abortion after 20 weeks, based on the possibility that the fetus can feel pain at the lower limit of viability since the lower brain structures are in place, the thalamo-cortical connections are developing and primitive memory and learning have begun.ⁱⁱⁱ There are exceptions for life and permanent injury for the mother and severe fetal anomalies. The law also requires that abortion facilities meet guidelines required of facilities that do similar procedures like D&Cs. Doctors performing abortions must obtain hospital privileges within 30 miles of the facility and follow FDA guidelines for medical abortions.

“Christian doctors are in a unique position to guide the public conversation toward one of ethics, rather than popular opinion, science or law. We must also demonstrate Christ’s healing love and forgiveness to those who are in pain because of abortion.”

 

Links and more references, here.

Freedom2Care: Protests tell a lot about a low level of health and safety at abortion clinics

. . . [A] Washington Post editorial protests that providing such basic safeguards will mean that “all but one of the clinics probably would close because of the associated costs.”

Such protests tell a lot about a low level of health and safety at those abortion clinics.

via Freedom2Care: Protests tell a lot about a low level of health and safety at abortion clinics.

Unfortunately, the Gosnell (and, possibly Texas’ Karpen) case tell us more about the effects of not monitoring State laws that are in existence.

But we do have evidence that the current standards are too low for health and safety. Over the last few months, as Texas’ Legislature considered new laws concerning abortion safety, we heard testimony from women who were required to stand in lines in narrow halls while waiting for their abortion, who were forced to walk out of the facility while hemorrhaging, and who were denied privacy. Most of all, we heard that the much touted claim that abortion is between a woman and “her doctor” is often meaningless, since the doctor doesn’t offer continuing care after the procedure.

Texas DPS director on “Tampon Gate”

Evidently, there were men who tried to enter the Senate Gallery ith tampons. Sounds suspicious to me!

“The possession of these and other items is not a crime, and therefore, there was no basis to arrest and detain visitors who possessed such items; however, they were denied access unless they discarded the items,” McCraw wrote. “The Department never took possession of these items and had no justification to do so.”

No officer questioned by the San Antonio Express-News or the Texas Tribune could confirm they had confiscated feces or urine or that they had any knowledge of such items being in the Capitol.

McCraw explained the basis for which officers did not allow feminine hygiene products including tampons and sanitary napkins into the gallery.

“The arbitrary prohibition of feminine hygiene products, for example, on its face would seem absurd,” McCraw wrote. “However, the Department received reports that some visitors planned to throw feminine hygiene products onto the Senate floor. One woman attempted to enter the Senate gallery with approximately 100 feminine hygiene products and she was denied access, as were two men who possessed approximately 50 feminine hygiene products each.”

He also said names of visitors with “suspicious jars or other items” were not documented because they did not commit a crime by possessing them and ”it would be unreasonable to document names of visitors based on what they might or might not do.”

Howard responded to McCraw’s with “disappointment with the lack of clarity that he provides.”

“At the end of the day, we are still left with unsubstantiated claims, allegations of suspicious jars but no actual evidence,” she said. “The lack of onsite documentation or eyewitnesses — either from officers or members of the public — seems to undercut the assertions laid out in DPS’ original press release and now their response letter. To be frank, it doesn’t pass the smell test. ”

McCraw added to the list of items that were confiscated and discarded by police including ”paint, confetti, glitter, bottles of bubbles, bags of balloons (not inflated), handheld air horns, a bag full of tomatoes” and two bricks, which were being used to prop doors open and were not going to be used as projectiles, he said.

The Express-News has requested records from the Department of Public Safety regarding the July 12 searches and items discarded.

Standing for Life – The Unfinished Story | Twisted Conservative

Those who #Stand4Life should get to know Jason Vaughn; as one of the effective leaders for life in Texas, he’s making history!  Here’s his recount of the events of last week:

Late Friday night we won the battle to reduce abortions in Texas! It was a great night and I am so excited to be a part of history. I’ve said before that the world may never know my name, but perhaps one day I will hear my God say, “Well done my good and faithful servant. You see that man there? I used you to save him from being aborted and I used him to change the world.”

It was a long and tiring week. There were some nights when I fell asleep in my clothes from the day. I had the privilege to work amazing men and women who love the people of Texas and want to see the end of abortion.

For those interested I want to walk you through the week.

Read the rest and see the pictures and videos he uses to document Texas’ #Stand4Life, via Standing for Life – The Unfinished Story | Twisted Conservative.

Rep. Jason Villalba Closing Speech on HB 2 (#Stand4Life )

Texas Alliance for Life has posted the video of the speech given in the Texas House of Representatives by Representative Jason Villalba (District 114, Dallas) in favor of life and HB2. It’s a beautiful testimony to love and humanity, and an answer to all the claims that this Bill is simply a political ploy. Watch for the sonogram picture of the Villalba’s 13 week son and the Representative’s declaration that he will fight for his son and all the babies destroyed by elective abortion.

“Planned Parenthood web ad blurs distinctions” (DMN Fact Check)

So, after telling us all these years that they don’t spend money from tax funds for their abortion business, Planned Parenthood is now saying that their facilities are often in the same buildings as the “separate” affiliates that don’t do abortions and that meeting the standards of an ambulatory care center will shut down both businesses.

Planned Parenthood operates 10 abortion clinics in the state that would be mandated to raise to the new standards. The abortion clinics, by law, are separate entities and must be separately funded from health centers where cancer screenings take place.

Planned Parenthood officials acknowledged that, but said some abortion clinics and health centers are housed within the same buildings. She suggested that if it were too expensive to upgrade the abortion clinics, then it could also force a shut-down of the health care clinics in the same building.

Officials could not say how many of the 10 abortion clinics are adjacent or within the same building as health care centers.

Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, responded by email and cited 55 health care centers already have been shuttered in Texas.

That assertion is based on legislative funding cuts from two years ago and is not related to the pending legislation.

And the previously closed health centers are not related to the assertion made in the advertisement.

Health centers that do not provide abortions would not be affected by the legislation.

via Fact check: Planned Parenthood web ad blurs distinctions | Trail Blazers Blog.