From Schools to ... Nuts

Apothecary Rights

Thus far there's no sign of the Right's favorite "Life-Begins-When-We-Say-So" bill, but that doesn't mean the Lege's Personal-Friends-of-God are slacking. Indeed, Rep. Frank "The Fetus" Corte, R-San Antonio, has already begun his biennial assault on reproductive freedom, this time under guise of defending the moral rectitude of pharmacists. That's right, in the battle between women's right to health care and pill dispensers, Corte is putting his legislative power behind moralistic drug salesmen. Under HB 16, Corte proposes allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for so-called "emergency contraceptives" – which he defines as all pharmaceutical birth control pills. And while proposing that discrimination or retaliation against a self-righteous pharmacist – that is, requiring them to do their jobs – will not be tolerated, Corte offers no alternative mechanism for prescription-holders who are turned away.

Meanwhile, Houston Democrat Rep. Jessica Farrar has filed two offerings that would revise the Corte-authored "Informed Consent" statute passed last season, which requires women to review state-printed abortion-related propaganda before terminating a pregnancy. Farrar's bills, HB 145 and HB 146, seek to exempt rape victims and women who have a "severe and irreversible abnormality" in a fetus from the required reading and 24-hour waiting period (during which, presumably, they could while away the time by shopping for a handgun – no delay required).

– Jordan Smith