From last summer (5 minutes):

Never a wild eyed liberal, the very conservative Barry Goldwater once observed about extremist right wing religious nuts that:

 There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.

There is nothing the religious extreme right gets more lathered about than women taking charge of their own health decisions in the reproductive area. To be most specific, choosing to have an abortion. To that end the religious right has pushed a concerted effort to take over the majority of state houses and governorships. Now they have one of their own in one of the nation’s most powerful jobs, that of Speaker of the House.

The religious right also owns the highest Court in the land counting 6 of the 9 SCOTUS votes as solidly in their column. Thus they are able to shape and determine national policy whether their determinations make any sense or not or whether it draws on solid legal grounds. 

Many legal scholars feel that the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health decision was more of a decision that was based on personal opinion. Then Justices twisted legal arguments to fit their decision. But you folks know all that. Thanks to this very flawed – and very chauvinistic – decision women (and girls) throughout the US live in fear should anything go wrong with a pregnancy.

Texas has been one of the most repressive states for abortion and women’s reproductive health. However, a small victory was achieved in Texas Thursday for at least one woman. A woman whose name had to be revealed as the court drama played out had a pregnancy where the baby has a fatal condition called trisomy that will cause the baby to be still born or die shortly after birth. To carry to term would greatly threaten the mother’s life.

The plaintiff was granted immediate relief and may have had the procedure by the time you read this. The patient’s doctor was also granted the ability to perform the abortionwithout fear of protection by the state. 

Think about this long and hard – in order to save her own life a woman in Texas had to get a court order to allow her and her doctor to perform an abortion which should have been her personal decision to begin with. This will be coming to Iowa probably early next year as a fully Republican appointed Supreme Court finally gives their blessing to the abortion law that the state legislature passed in special session last summer.

Reporting on the decision NBC News noted this reaction from the state of Texas at the decision: 

Johnathan Stone, an attorney with the Texas attorney general’s office who represented the state in the hearing, argued that Cox and her husband had not sufficiently demonstrated that they would suffer “immediate and irreparable injury” without an abortion.

“The only party that’s going to suffer an immediate and irreparable harm in this case” if the judge grants the requested order, he said, “is the state.” 

Let me translate – this is a dent in the state’s ability to control women’s bodies and we are scared it might go farther.

Just a reminder that just because Iowa hasn’t implemented its draconian abortion laws yet doesn’t mean it won’t. It will and soon.

Implementing draconian abortion laws will only add to Iowa’s already critical lack of Ob-Gyn services in this state. As reported by Iowa Public Radio last summer, much of Iowa is already a maternity care desert:

A third of Iowa’s 99 counties are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no OB/GYNs and no birthing hospitals or birthing centers, according to a new report by the non-profit March of Dimes.

The report found 33 counties fit this definition, marking an increase in the number of rural hospitals that are no longer offering labor and delivery services.

The loss of maternity services correlates with negative birthing outcomes, said Jessica Dill, the manager of centralized developments with the March of Dimes.

“Preterm birth, issues related to birth, maternal morbidity rates go up when families have to drive more than 30 minutes to get to a care provider,” she said.

UPDATE!

As most have heard Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened the woman’s physician with prosecution should an abortion be performed. This is in violation of the court order, but as we all know the rule of law means little to nothing to people like Paxton who himself is being investigated for felonies.

The Texas Supreme Court issued a stay on the court order late Thursday night putting an abortion in limbo. The pregnancy is currently in its 20th week so a decision must come soon one would think.

Pay attention, Iowa. This is your future. With religious extremist Brenna Bird as our AG we can expect insane political interference with a woman’s reproductive care.

Fortunately Illinois and Minnesota are close. Will we have travel restrictions for pregnant women in our futures?