Texas Now

Texas Now

2017 Legislative Session Edition Page 8

A brief recap of the Texas Page 26 School Finance system How the Bathroom Bill is affecting our citizens Page 14 Foster care in Texas and the changes being made Page 32 The abortion law and Planned Parenthood Page 20 The relationship between politics and architecture

Texas Now Table of Contents

2

Letter From the Editor

4

School Finance

8

Foster Care

14

Politics of Architecture

20

Bathroom Bill

26

Abortion Law

32

Easily navigate your way through “Texas Now” and find the location of specific articles The editor, Sophia Takvorian talks about the process required to create “Texas Now” This article talks about state funding for schools in Texas and how its affected by the Legislative Session A feature of foster care in Texas and possible changes in the future with a focus on the 2017 legislative session.

A short feature on the relevance of architecture in modern Texas and its relationship with politics.

This article is focusing on the controversial Bathroom Bill and who it affects and how it affects them

A short feature article about the future of reproductive laws in Texas, with a focus on the 2017 legislative

Table of Contents- 2

Table of Contents- 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Editor- 4

Dear Reader, My group and I enjoyed creating this magazine and we hope you enjoy it too. Our group started out without a clear idea of what our magazine was going to be about at all. We had different ideas including: travel, architecture, education, and of course, politics. It took us a very long time and lots of negotiation and we finally settled on Texan politics. Everyone of our group members had the opportunity to speak with some truly influential and monumental people. These experiences were very eye opening and educational for all of us, especially for me. I loved getting to speak to the people who are directly involved in issues that are current and are evolving every day.

In eighth grade I became coeditor of my middle school’s yearbook and every page had a very well planned and set layout.

What I love about creating this magazine is the freedom that comes along with our pages and how we express our content. On behalf of myself and all of my group members, I would like to thank all of our interviewees for giving us great insight on all of our topics. I would like to thank Many Stripes, One Tiger for giving me the opportunity to meet some really great people and to get an inside look on how the these bills affecting our people and just to be a part of such a loving and inclusive group of people.

Thank you and enjoy,

Sophia Takvorian Editor- 5

Texas Now- 6

Meet the Contributors Sophia Takvorian was born and raised in Austin, Texas, although she travels to Greece every summer to be with her family. She is LBJ/LASA’s varsity soccer goal keeper and plays recreationally with the North Austin Soccer Alliance.

In her free time she enjoys photographing/being in nature, hanging out with friends, and traveling.

Reha Kakkar has lived in Austin for most of her life. She doesn’t have a middle name and hates cheesecake and Anissa. Graphic design is my passion. She likes Ezine way better than Scitech. She’s passionate about dogs and semicolons; especially when they are unexpected.

Carly Atwell was born in Austin 14 years ago. She plays ultimate frisbee and volleyball. She has travelled with her family to national parks across the United States.

She also enjoys art in all forms, being outside in nature, and spending time with her amazing friends.

Anissa Cantu was born in Lubbock and moved to Austin when she was six. She is on LBJ/LASA JV soccer team in addition to club. For fun, she enjoys traveling and hanging out with friends.

Ben Baskin is a born-and-raised Austinite. He attends school at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. If his free time he enjoys acting in shows. He is always dressed nice, and will talk to you about his obsession with Ryan Gosling if you listen.

Contributors- 7

School Finance- 8

School Finance: 101

A Beginner’s Guide to the Texas Education System Ben Baskin

In 1876, the Texas State Constitution laid out measures intended to create an ideal public education system for the welfare of our state’s children.

Nearly a century and a half later, we’re still working towards that goal of efficiency the founding fathers have .

Let’s start with the basics of school finance – education is funded, for the most part, locally. The state, however, uses a method called recapture (referred to as Robin Hood) to help level the playing field.

“Let’s say everybody was given

this cup – it needs to have this rim,” began Holly McIntush, an attorney at the law firm of Thompson and Horton LLP and Counsel to the Fort Bend Independent School District plaintiff group representing 63 school districts, educating 1.5 million students. “For years and years and years, the state would say ‘we’re going to guarantee you to there, and if your tax dollars raise you to here, the state will fill you to there, and if you fill yourself to here, we, the state, will fill you to there.

If your property tax dollars are enough to fill you up to here and more, then we kind of have something under here to catch

Source: Pixabay

the overflow,’ and that’s the Robin Hood system.”

And, of course, there’s bound to be variation between any two districts. The districts receive their funding from property taxes, which, especially in an oil-rich state like Texas, is more likely to cause this variation.

Robin Hood is meant to fix that; to make sure all districts are funded and supported equally and sufficiently. But are we putting enough in?

“It’s easy to kind of turn it into a ‘this is a Robin Hood problem,” McIntush continued. “This is a

School Finance- 9

Artist rendition of the cup metaphor rich district problem because we have to give too much of our money and we can’t pass an election – it’s called a tax ratification election – we can’t pass that election to raise our taxes anymore, or we’re already at the cap and our voters can’t even allow us, because there’s kind of a soft cap, where the voters have to approve an increase in taxes and then there’s a hard cap where you can’t go above that.’ But at the same time, poor districts are going to say, ‘well we can’t pass that election either because that cup is too tiny for those last four cents, right? We’re filling it up to here, but the state is only giving us this much and it’s hard for everybody.’”

School Finance-10

Former State Rep. Dr. Jimmie Don Aycock echoed these concerns, “These large, urban districts, like Austin, Houston, Burning Branch, soon to be Dallas, are seeing these larger and larger percentages of their tax money back to the state in this recapture system, and Houston has revolted and decided not to send the money.”

You might ask why the district’s levy the taxes rather than the state. Wouldn’t that be a more efficient system and one that wouldn’t require these complex calculations that are constantly becoming outdated?

The Texas Constitution would disagree. It includes a clause that prevents the state from instating a property tax.

However, property taxes are the standard for funding. It doesn’t have to be that way, though.

The state could simply propose an income tax, which won’t happen anytime soon, or they could propose a constitutional amendment to override the clause preventing the statewide tax and simply circumvent the overcomplicated, two-tiered system we have in place.

“Now, there’s a reason we do it local; we want local there to be buy-in,” McIntush offered.

“Without control over the budget, which you kind of have to have some sort of local buy – like, local decision about how we are going to raise enough to have local control over the budget, and if you don’t have

to know – if you’re going to compete in the economy when you graduate from high school; if you’re going to be competitive at college, you need to know more now than you used to need to know; but that costs money. The problem comes when the state doesn’t do its fair share in keeping the money up, because as the needs are getting – as the academic needs are growing, it goes back to the whole idea of ‘we’re not keeping track of the costs.’”

local control over the budget, you don’t have local control over your schools.”

Even so, the districts might not lose control of the budget under those propositions, and the state, in some ways, already control the budgets.

“You know, the argument in the case – the school finance case – which I still believe is true, even though the court ruled against this” McIntush continued, “The way the legislature has failed to keep up with us, is basically that they do control the way we spend money, because districts can’t raise their taxes more because they’re up against the cap or they’re up against the cap where they have to get voter buy in – they can’t get voter buy in because there’s so little money associated with those additional tax dollars – it still costs the same – each cent of property tax above that cap costs the taxpayer just as much, but the schools get less benefit from it.

“To me, the root of the problem is still that the state isn’t making sure that we keep up with the cost of education. What we are expecting schools to do and students to do is now is significantly more than it used to be; that’s a good thing, in order to survive in an economy in which you need to know more than you used to need

Whatever way you look at this issue, there will be no bipartisan, simple decision that could easily hit some magic reset button. But you can get out there as a citizen and vote for somebody strong on these topics who might be able to provide some progress on the issue.

School Finance- 11

House Committee on Ken King

-3rd Session -5 years on School Board -No higher education listed -Reasonable Conservative

Dwayne Bohac -7th Session -Texas A&M -Proud Conservative

Dan Huberty -4th Session -Former School Board Trustee -Experience with natural gas industry -Reasonable Conservative

Diego Bernal -2nd Sessio -Former social worker -Former City Council of SA -University of Michigan -Hard left

School Finance- 12

n Public Education A focus peice on the members of the 2017 Session House Committee on Public Education Linda Koop

-2nd Session -Various Dallas Civic Duties -CSU & Temple University -Reasonable Conservative

Gary VanDevear -2nd Session -Former Principal & Educator -No higher education listed -Reasonable Conservative

Harold D. Vutton Jr.

-14th Session -Former TV Exec.

-TSU -Reasonable Liberal

Alma Allen

-6th Session -Former Education Board Member -Former Principal & Educator -TSU -Hard left School Finance- 13

Source: publicdomainpictures.net

Texas Foster Care

Carly Atwell

“We pay our foster homes less than some doggie day cares charge for an eight to five kenneling of an animal, we pay them less, and we’re keeping kids for 24 hours, and these are kids” Said Darlene Byrne, Judge of the 126th judicial district court.

Foster care is one of the main issues being focused on during the 85th legislative session in Texas. There are big changes to be made in the Texas foster care system.

“We have a very underfunded system, and when you do, you’re gonna find some problems,” said Pamela McPeters, director of public policy for the nonprofit

“We pay our foster homes less than some doggie day cares charge for an eight to five kenneling of an animal” -Byrne agency TexProtects. Texas is one of the lowest investors in foster care. They spend less than half the average of what other states in the nation spend on foster care.

One of the problems with an underfunded foster care system is that the caseworkers have low salaries and high case loads. Joshua Mauk, who previously worked at Lutheran Social Services( now UpBring) said,“It’s a very challenging field two be in, because traditionally it’s underpaid and overworked, long hours, lots of heartache, lots of breakthroughs, but then a lot of challenges as well,” An effect of high case loads is that many caseworkers are so busy that 16.9 percent of priority one cases, children who were suspected to be in serious danger of abuse or neglect, weren’t seen

within 24 hours, and 7.2 percent of them were not seen by caseworkers ever. McPeters said that the Senate was not happy that children weren’t being seen because of high case loads.

To try to solve this problem, Hank Whitman, commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services, proposed to hire 550 additional investigators and caseworkers, along with 279 support staffers, in the next year and to give the case workers a pay raise. They were able to get $12,000 per case worker across the state of Texas. This was a huge success in the world of foster care.

But caseworkers aren’t the only ones being underpaid — extended relatives taking care of foster children get little financial support. McPeters said, “I can’t imagine buying food and clothing and all those kinds of things and care that you need for a child that you could afford for $1000 in the first year and in the second year you get $500 for reimbursement.”

In most cases, the relatives taking care of these children are grandparents, who have fixed incomes and their own health problems to deal with.

In addition, foster children are usually higher needs children so they take an extra level of financial and emotional care. “Many of these kids have incredibly high mental health needs, I mean really high.

Autism, schizophrenia, reactive-attachment

The bond between parent and child is very important.sportforlife.com.cn

Foster Care- 15

disorder, bipolar, some can be violent”, Byrne said.

She also said they usually need a lot of therapy, doctor’s appointments, dental appointments and tutoring, which adds up to be costly. As a result of the emotional, financial, and temporal commitments it takes to foster a child, not many families are willing to do it.

of the foster care system.” He said that the goal is for them to be self-sufficient by that time, but many of them don’t have the support they need or choose not to take their medication and so they often don’t end up in the best positions. “They have a really high incarceration rate, a really high homelessness rate, a very low high school graduation rate, and even lower still college,” Byrne said. Foster children even have free tuition to state colleges, but only about three to four percent get a college degree.

There are different opinions on Texas’ current foster care system. On one hand, McPeters said, “Our foster care system I would say right now is in chaos.”

On the other hand, Judge Byrne said, “I would say the typical Texan on the street because of what they’ve heard in the press would say it’s awful. I think if you ask governor Abbott he would say it’s awful. I don’t feel that way.”

Judge Byrne works with foster care related cases and although the foster care system has been stereotyped as entirely bad, she sees a lot of good things happening.

Pamela McPeters, director of public policy for TexProtects

“We don’t have enough foster families where we can place kids and so when that happens we’re a little lax on the ones that we have because we have nowhere else to place them,” McPeters said.

McPeters introduces another problem that exists in the foster care system, “There are too many disruptions and the kids move from placement to placement and sometimes really far from their biological home and parents and the school that they knew and those are really traumatic situations.”

It wouldn’t be uncommon for a child to have been in 20 or 30 different foster homes and because of that, they often can’t form a strong bond or trust.

Some foster children continue to move from foster home to foster home until they turn 18, and if they haven’t found a forever home, they age out of the foster care system. Aging out means they’re on their own and no longer under the obligation of the state.

Mauk said, “At least 1,400 youth age out every year

Foster Care- 16

“Our foster care system I would say right now is in chaos” -McPeters “About 85 percent of our kids have a CASA volunteer. For an urban environment that’s unheard of,” Byrne said. A Court Appointed Special Advocate(CASA) volunteer is someone who advocates for the best interests of an abused or neglected child. “So when a case tees up, I could have 20, 25 people in that one case giving me their points of view on what’s best for this child or this family to get back together and be healed. And as a result, I get to make really good decisions because I’ve got a lot of boots on the ground,” Byrne said.

The foster care system is a major topic for Texas in the 2017 legislative session. McPeters said, “Every single member that I have talked to says that this is a priority so there’s a lot of momentum. They want to do the best that they can.”

There are a few different ideas of what should happen to the foster care system. One idea, which Mauk said Upbring was advocating for was, “To not necessarily decrease the regulations but change the regulations to make them more conducive to a nurturing environment rather than a strict kind of rules based environment.” Right now, there are a lot of rules and regulations that a foster family has to go through with their home, and when making parenting decisions. So the nonprofit organization, Upbring, wants to change that.

you were a for profit company and I changed the rules on you every two years, you wouldn’t be for profit for long, because you just you can’t sustain that level of systemic change, and expect an entity this big to be responsive that quickly,” Byrne said.

State lawmakers are proposing a large reform of the foster care system which will include privatizing parts of the system. Byrne, who is not thrilled about this proposal, said, “They want to strip the government of all the caseworkers and put it in a loose array of non profits around the state of texas and give all the money to them.” The nonprofits wouldn’t receive any more money than was previously given to the foster care system. She said, “My recommendation to the legislator is keep it simple.” Byrne, along with many other judges in the state, doesn’t agree with such a drastic change. “If

Despite the challenges and complexity of the system, there is still hope for a better future in foster care. “It has become a mission for almost the entire legislature. I do think that there will be improvement so I’m hopeful and happy,” McPeters said.

Nonetheless, not having enough money will always be an issue with the foster care system. McPeters said, “The biggest biggest barrier that we have is we’re in a downturn economy so we have less money coming in than we had last time”.

Byrne adds a helpful reminder. “If you’re expecting Child Protective Services to do this all by themselves, they can’t and they’re gonna do it poorly. But if the entire community comes together for the kids and families you’re gonna do a good job for them because they’re your neighbors.”

25 children celebrate Austin adoption day with their forever families

Sources: Statesman.com

Foster Care- 17

Foster Care- 18

Foster Care- 19

Architecture- 20

Politics of Architecture Anissa Cantu

Did you know that the Texas State Capitol is the largest capitol in the U.S.? It is even bigger than the U.S. capitol located in Washington D.C. In fact, the sole purpose of the placement of the Goddess of liberty at the top is to make the capital taller. This comparison further solidifies the term “Everything’s bigger in Texas”.

The architecture in Texas has major influence on how we see politics. This is important because it influences the stereotypes of Texas throughout the nation. These affect our day to day lifestyle and even how we think and view ourselves.

Texas is a fairly conservative state that has not seen many changes in recent history. The urban areas tend to be more liberal, while the smaller suburbs are conservative.“Current politics is a swiftly changing phenomenon, but less so in Texas than in the nation, as a whole,” says Bradford Patterson, who is the Community Heritage Development Director at for the Texas Historical Commission. He explains that the U.S. in general is more progressive than Texas. Texas has a major conservative background, whose past beliefs still affect the decisions we make today.

However, there are places in Texas that are not conservative. The larger areas of Texas have more diverse populations, therefore they are more liberal. “Most larger cities in Texas tend to have a more open-minded social outlook because of the presence of significant

minority population and frequently, the nearness of higher education facilities,” explained Patterson.

Since Texas is near the border of Mexico, there are major influences on our politics and architecture.

The places that had a bigger Mexican population see diverse populations and sometime different building styles. This assimilation of cultures creates a variety of architecture in Texas.

There are many ways that architecture can be connected to politics. The architecture that is here today tells a story of past struggles and it gives people an insight into history. “Architecture that we see and experience influences how we think about history,” says Patterson when talking about the connections between politics and architecture.

The differences between the architecture in bigger cities and smaller communities gives acumen into the evolution of the populations and moving societies throughout Texas.“Local communities tell their stories through their buildings. Not just with museums and exhibits, but also with local buildings that have been around since the founding of the town or city,” Patterson offers. He says that the smallest details (in architecture) can have the biggest impact.

This goes for all buildings, even in the smallest communities. “When you’re looking at buildings,

Architecture- 21

Source: Annie Dale

The Texas Capitol during the day.

you see different aspects about a community’s history,” Patterson reveals. Every community has a history, a culture, and a story to tell.

Observing and appreciating the architecture is just one way to show that you are listening.

Buildings that have a long history can tell the story of a community just by the

Architecture- 22

structure. For example, an older building might have different style and structures from a modern building. These details, though small, can indicate the fast changing trends among architecture. “They might be 12 stories instead of 60 stories, and their age is a little bit different and you can look at a community size, and when you’re

looking at architecture, you can start to understand how and when it developed,” Patterson explains.

Architecture can serve as a way to keep track of history and major events. Museums help with this tracking by educating people on past societies.

Although buildings and architecture may seem insignificant, they are

“Its a reminder of the injustices and that things weren’t always good.”

- Bradford Patterson Source: Annie Dale

ways for societies to tell their stories. They are also a way for communities to distinguish themselves from others. Buildings make places unique and give them individuality. Without these structures, everywhere you go would look the same. The preservation of this architecture serves as reminders and lessons people have learned from their past mistakes. The history preserved in those buildings can be of vital importance.

and that the way things were weren’t always good.”

Patterson states. This is one of the main reasons why architecture is important.

Through these buildings, people are educated on history that they might not have even know about.

Although we may not be proud of all of our history, it is important to enlighten others about the good and the bad.

“It is a reminder of injustices The top of the capitol.

Source: Annie Dale

Architecture- 23

Test your Texas History Knowledge Architecture- 24

Are you good at history?

Yes

No

Try this anyway!

On to the next one...

Where is the “Eigth Wonder of the World”?

Yes, you’re almost done!

So close!

What year did Texas become a state?

Don’t know

the one...

1845

1830 You need to study! Yes

Galveston

Congrats! You answered one question!

Are you sure?

Where was James Bowie’s famous line spoken?

What city in Texas did the deadliest hurricane take place?

El Paso You’re doing so well!

The Alamo

Uhhh...

We’ll give you one more chance...

What Caddo Indian word is Texas derived from?

Goliad

Allies

You’re right!

Texas means both allies and friendship!

You’re a Texas Genius!

Friendship Architecture- 25

Bathroom Bill - 26

Bathroom Bill From North Carolina To Texas In March 2016 North Carolina was featured in breaking news segments on news networks. More recently, Texas has been featured for the exact same reason.

Senator Lois Kolkhorst suggested a bill which would nullify all existing LGBT protection laws and force trans-gender people to use restrooms in accordance to the gender on their birth certificate.

Sophia Takvorian

but all important community.

Andy Hutton is a parent in the group Many Stripes, One Tiger (MSOT) who are fighting for the right of a trans-gender third-grader attending Dripping Springs ISD to be able to use the restroom with the gender she identifies as. This student got a lot of attention when an outside political group began speaking of security threats posed by the school’s accommodations.

Hutton recalls what he felt when he heard about Texas Values, the group advocating against this student, “it struck me as kind of bullying, it struck me as name calling and if anything, the only person whose safety was being put at risk was this trans-gender child.” He says that it was not their place to comment because they had never met the child before. This is a very big concern for most anti-SB6 advocates; the ones who are passing this bill have not been in contact with trans-gender people and do not understand how this bill affects them.

“It struck me as bullying, it struck me as name calling”

Senate Bill 6 (SB6) states that people must use the restroom according to the gender written on their birth certificates because it poses a safety concern for others in that restroom.

This troubles the transgender community of Texas because they will have to go against all they have worked for to transition just to use the restroom in a public facility. Individual organizations and communities have banded together in contacting their congressmen and senators, they have also organized talks and dialogues with trans-gender groups in order to spread awareness for this small,

LGBT and transgender flags being waved at PRIDE marches in the US

Source: Oxford Student

Bathroom Bill - 27

Citizens of Baltimore rally together in support of their transgender community

Source: Creative Commons

Elizabeth B., a mother and supporter of MSOT explained this bill appeals to the uninformed.

Elizabeth states that “trans people are biologically different ... They are not driven by sexuality but a disconnect between themselves and their gender.”

The common misconception that trans people are the same as gays and lesbians leads to the misunderstanding of the LGBT community. When people are told the story of this third grader their immediate reactions are ‘she is already thinking about [sex] at such a young age?!’. But as Elizabeth said, gender and sexuality are two different things.

According to Hutton the cause of this bill is that “it really does come down to just fear of the ‘other’, fear of somebody they don’t know.” Elizabeth also touched on what the “other” category is and how it is an important aspect in trans-phobia, the fear of trans-gender individuals. Elizabeth explained that in today’s culture people are caught up in constant categorization of everyone around them that they don’t know where to place trans people. “I try and encourage people to try to meet people who are trans-gender, or who are just different than them, you know have a conversation — engage, connect. I feel like once they do all those fears will melt away,” Hutton says is the best way to have transphobic and

Bathroom Bill - 28

homophobic people do to expand their minds about the topic. Paul Huddleston of Austin PRIDE said: “we have to love them to the core of their being, we have to let them evolve on their own terms.”

Another place where Hutton and Huddleston agree is in reference to how this will affect the trans community. Hutton says that the bill would “legislatively, it would stigmatize her it would marginalize her, it would treat her differently than her classmates, and I don’t think that’s appropriate for legislatures to do to an innocent kid [the trans third grader attending Walnut Creek],”.

“Discrimination doesn’t pay” says Huddleston.

If Huddleston could say anything to the Lt. Gov. he would say: “Grow up, put on your big boy pants and grow up,” he later explains that instead of focusing on the pressing issues that Texas is facing the bill is targeting the more vulnerable.

MORE RECENTLY: After 13 hours of deliberation on March 13, the Texas Senate passed SB6 with a win of 21-10. This means that the bill will now get passed onto the House for another vote.

“LOVE WHO YOU LOVE, BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE” -Chase Bradshaw

Bathroom Bill - 29

If The Transgender Community Was a 100 Group of People

A very common way of showing statistics today is to imagine your subject as a group of 100 people. In this representation you can see how the lives of transgender individuals in America are significantly more difficult than that of an average American citizen.

27 would have an annual household salary of $20,000 or less

Bathroom Bill- 30

22 would be insured

41 would have attempted suicide at

some point in their lives

21 would have IDs matching their gender identity

50 would have been harassed in the work place and 76 and would have been in grades K-12

19 would have been homeless some point in their lives

46 would be uncomfortable seeking police assistance

57 would have experienced family rejection after coming out

Sources: National Transgender Discrimination Survey

Bathroom Bill- 31

Abortion Law- 32

Texas Legislative session and Planned Parenthood In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled Texas House Bill 2, a major antiabortion legislation, unconstitutional, securing a victory for abortion rights activists. However, this didn’t stop the Texas government and citizens from pressuring abortion clinics, causing the number of clinics in Texas to drop from 44 to 19.

Every two years, the state of Texas holds a legislative session where elected legislators discuss possible changes, removals or additions to Texas law.

Texas has been identified as the state with the strictest view on abortion in the U.S. A major issue on the table for this year’s session is the funding of Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider

Reha Kakkar

in the U.S. Abortion rights are now largely considered a partisan issue, where conservatives tend to be anti-abortion and liberals support abortion rights.

Texas has always been a very conservative state, but a growing number of Texans now identify as liberal. However, with the newly-elected Republican president, Donald Trump and the Republicans now controlling all three branches of the US government, marks a more conservative shift in the US policies concerning abortion. Abortion rights activists suspect that this means Texas Republicans will be emboldened to pass conservative legislation that they hadn’t passed before. This could mean more restrictions on abortion and the Abortion Law- 33

and the US. Both sides see abortion rights becoming stricter in Texas. Deirdre Cooper, a representative from the Texas Alliance for Life says that, “More young people are pro-life, primarily because science is on our side.” She talks about how today’s youth have grown up seeing ultrasounds, knowing unborn babies are human. “Young people have a strong sense of justice,” Cooper says, ”and they recognize that applies to the unborn as well.”

According to Sharmeen Aly, a representative from National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) Pro-choice Texas, Texas has some of the harshest anti-abortion laws in the country.

Cooper calls Texas, “one of the leading pro-life states in the country. Other states look to Texas and follow our example for passing pro-life laws.” So it is a safe bet to assume that Texas laws are not getting any more liberal in its reproductive laws.

For the time being, the pro-choice sides agrees that Texas and its fellow southern states have taken a conservative shift and abortion laws are most likely heading to a future that is even more strict, but they don’t see science as the reason for this rise of anti-abortion sentiment. Aly says, “everything we see now is modeled legislation that other groups have crafted that’s just being passed down from state to state. And so it’s become a very partisan issue and it’s become more about politics than healthcare,” Even though it is in decline in Texas, the pro-choice movement is very largely nationally supported, and they have had a very large victory over the summer, that being Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt.

The outcome stated that the state cannot place an undue burden on people seeking abortion. Aly describes the outcome as “this guise of women’s health doesn’t stand when you have no evidence

Abortion Law- 34

behind what you’re saying”. But in Texas, Cooper recalls “the sonogram law, the Choose Life license plate, and defunding Planned Parenthood” as some of the biggest Texas pro-life victories.

She also cited how Texas abortions have dropped from 80,000 in Texas in 2008 to 55,000 in 2014.

Though the future is almost certain, that doesn’t stop the prochoice side from being hopeful. Aly would like to see laws that address the extremely high maternal mortality rate in Texas, CPS reform and the foster care crisis. The outcome that Cooper is hoping for involves a state ban on partial birth abortion, elimination of the wrongful birth cause of action, requiring the humane disposition of the bodies of aborted babies, stopping the practice of selling aborted baby body parts for profit, and the continuation of the defunding of Planned Parenthood, which is a far more likely scenario.

Planned Parenthood has been a central issue between the pro-life and pro-choice side. Aly says that, just in Texas alone, Planned Parenthood

nytimes.com

serves around 11,000 patients, most of them in low income areas. Planned Parenthood provides abortion, birth control, HIV screenings, cancer screenings, STD screenings and sex education and she says these are all things people need access too.

Cooper sees the other services offered by Planned Parenthood as very limited and sees it Planned Parenthood as the nation’s largest abortion provider. Cooper says that, “Taxpayers do not want to

hood this year and the impact on Texan women would be tremendous.

Kaylee Lyle, a freshman at LASA has had personal experience with abortion and especially Planned Parenthood, she says, “Personally, I’m on birth control, and I know my mother would of have many more abortions without planned parenthood. She’s also needed them for multiple STD screenings. Without this, my mother would of been subject to many more abortions, if not an unwanted

“Everything we see now is modeled legislation that other groups have crafted that’s just being passed down from state to state” fund the largest abortion provider,” and that women deserve better healthcare than Planned Parenthood, such as a comprehensive primary care provider. She encourages women to visit one of the over 9,000 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and non-abortion providing, comprehensive primary care providers across the nation.

Pro-life legislatures are aiming to defund Planned Parenttexasgopvote.com

child, along with the risk of not knowing she was infected with a sexual disease.” Including her mother, 3 of her family members have had abortions and she says they are all happier for it. However, her best friend, who wishes to stay anonymous disapproves of abortion, using arguments such as “they’re living” or “they can give the baby up for adoption.” Lyle says her best friend is not keeping in mind

Bearningdrift.com

plannedparenthood.com

how horrible being raised in foster can give the baby up for adoption.” Lyle says her best friend is not keeping in mind how horrible being raised in foster care can be, how expensive and difficult it is to adopt a child in America, the emotional strain of having to give up a child after carrying it, and the guilt of not loving a child.

Regarding the legislative session she says she is afraid that men, with no understanding of a woman’s situation in abortions will determine the fate of these women in need, by denying them the right to abort their child.

“I hope to see a change,” she says, “change and a choice for women, regardless of their situation.” If abortion is declared illegal Lyle is worried about women being forced to do it under the table or at home, which is extremely risky, and believes it to be ridiculous to subject anyone to this kind of treatment. She says if abortions become illegal, “women will suffer, families will suffer, the amount of kids put up for adoption with no one to take them in will rise beyond containable numbers.”

Abortion Law- 35

ABORTION AROU

Canada

Legal at ALL stages of pregnancy. Abortion has been legal since 1969 at some level.

Canada is one of the only countries in the world with no legal restrictions on abortion.

Ireland

Brazil

Only legal if the pregnancy puts the mother’s life in danger or in cases of rape. Any woman who performs an abortion on herself or consents to an abortion performed by another is one to three years of detention.

Abortion- 36

Abortion in Ireland has been illegal since 1922.

If caught, both the woman and the doctor face jail time. Women in Ireland often travel to Britain for abortions.

ND THE WORLD

Japan

Available to women in limited circumstances, such as health problems or economic hardship. Abortion is technically illegal in the country, but there are so many exceptions that it is widely accepted and practiced.

Kenya

Unsafe abortion is the leading cause of maternal death in Kenya. There is a high rate of unplanned pregnancies and limited access to safe clinics.

China

Legal and given on request from the woman, except on cases of sex-selective abortion.

Abortion is common way for China to control its population.

Abortion- 37

Made in Texas

Source: adobe stock