If nothing else, the recent “battle” over some very commonsense regulations on abortion has provided us with a clear contrast between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans were respectful, polite, and prayerful in their efforts to improve the safety of women seeking abortions and to reduce late term abortions in line with advances in medical technology. Democrats were rude, disrupted, and showed no concern for women as they sought to block these commonsense regulations.See this and this if you don’t believe me.

This also played out among the younger people in our state, which might give us some hope for stopping the “demographic wave” that so many professionals insist will be the end of the Republican Party in Texas. Two blog posts perfectly illustrate the difference between young Republicans and young Democrats. One is titled Bro-Choice: How #HB2 Hurts Texas Men Who Like Women and was posted by Ben Sherman on the Austin based Burnt Orange Report. Sherman is listed as an undergraduate at the University of Texas. The second blog post was published here on BJP and is titled Texas College Republicans on abortion debate – let’s make it safer for women and was written by Kristopher M. Infante, who is a senior at Texas State University-San Marcos.

In his post, Mr. Infante does the unthinkable: he writes about what the bill actually does!

• It takes away a woman’s right to choose! The bill prevents abortions after five months (20 weeks). There is no doubt in my mind that a woman that electing to have an abortion is facing a tough decision, but five months is enough time to make a choice.
• What if the mother’s life is in danger? The five- month ban does not apply in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
• Well, it is going to shut down clinics!  The bill raises the standard of care for women by ensuring that abortion facilities have the same regulatory standards as ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs).
• What is an ASC? I’m glad you asked; no one else has. ACS’s, otherwise known as outpatient surgery centers, must meet certain regulatory standards to provide some very common procedures, including  colonoscopies, carpal tunnel surgeries, and ear tubes for children. To break it down, the bill ensures that medical staff use appropriate and sanitary procedures.
• What if current abortion providers do not meet the proposed new requirements? Like any other service provider that does not meet regulatory standards, they will have to upgrade their facilities
• What if current abortion providers do not upgrade their facilities? They can continue to remain open and provide women’s health services such as contraceptives, annual visits and preventative services but cease to perform abortions.
• The Gosnell case is rare, abortions are safe! Plane crashes are rare, as well. Planes are safe. However there is a chance that something can go wrong. What about this hospital, doctor, admitting privilege stuff?  Requiring doctors to have hospital admitting privileges is simply improving the standard of care. Hospitals provide admitting privileges based on their own assessment of quality of care. If a doctor does not have admitting privileges to a hospital, it is a troubling sign. Run.

A straightforward analysis of each objection, using the actual bill as a reference point. Contrast this information with that of Mr. Sherman.

For those of us guys who like girls — you know, like them like them — and want to have relationships with them that may last anywhere from a few minutes to many years, we need to think about how this bill, by curtailing the bodily autonomy and sexual freedom of women, hurts us, too. We need to stand with women in their fight to control their own bodies.

How #HB2 Hurts Straight Texas Men

• Your girlfriend’s/wife’s life will be in danger. Making abortion inaccessible for millions of Texas women is going to put them in danger if they ever need to terminate a pregnancy. Black markets for unsafe abortions will emerge, and women will be pushed into potentially fatal back-alley abortions. That’s your girlfriend’s life we’re talking about.
• Your freedom to choose is at stake, too. While it is ultimately a woman’s choice whether to have an abortion, many women choose to make that decision with the man involved. Do you want that decision ready-made for you by politicians in state government? Not if you value freedom, you don’t.
• You want to decide when and if to have kids. This bill will force thousands of Texas men into unplanned fatherhood by making it impossible for women to access an abortion in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. Even if you want to have kids, you probably don’t want an accident to make you a father before you’re psychologically ready and able to care for a child. If you don’t want kids, you don’t want the narrow, personal views of politicians in the state government to force you to have them.
• Your sex life is at stake. Can you think of anything that kills the vibe faster than a woman fearing a back-alley abortion? Making abortion essentially inaccessible in Texas will add an anxiety to sex that will drastically undercut its joys. And don’t be surprised if casual sex outside of relationships becomes far more difficult to come by.

It’s clear: if the Legislature basically takes away a Texas woman’s right to choose, having sex becomes a much, much riskier proposition for women and men.

See the difference? Of course you do. Mr. Sherman ignores the actual bill and uses false claims to try and elicit emotional responses. The very nature of the bill makes abortions safer for women, it certainly doesn’t endanger them. It doesn’t restrict anyone’s freedom to choose before 20 weeks – isn’t five months enough time to make a joint decision? The bill does nothing to hamper your ability to choose when and if to have kids because abortion remains legal and does not in any way restrict access to abortions before 20 weeks of gestation. As for his last objective, well, I’ll just take a comment on his post at Burnt Orange:

Yes, Ben. Nothing could be worse than having the mood spoiled by some pesky nagging worries that you might actually produce a baby with your fornication. How terrible it would be for you – and for your piece of tail – if you couldn’t just flush it and be done. Let’s all support causes that ensure that we never have to be worried about experiencing the consequences of our actions. Because, like, what a downer that would be.

When Holly Hansen, who blogs at Williamson County Conservative, noted how chauvinistic this kid is in her post titled Male Chauvinist Worries that Abortion Bill will Hamper His Casual Sex Life, he threw a temper tantrum titled 2013 or 1950? Conservatives Rail Against Having Sex Outside of Marriage.

Now let me ask the obvious question: which one of these two young men care about women? The one who wants to protect them with reasonable, commonsense regulation of the abortion industry? Or the one that is upset that his “vibe” might be lost if he ever finds a woman that will get in the sack with him?

Again, we’ll use a comment from Burnt Orange:

What a great example of the exploitation of women by “pro-choice” men. Abortion is used to treat women as objects that can be used over and over (or just once, whatever they prefer). Upset at the prospect of getting less tail?  Maybe it’s time to put on your big boy pants and be responsible for your actions.

Ladies, you are worth so much more than this.

I’m happy that even the people that read the “progressive” blog centered in Austin realize that actions have consequences. It gives me a glimmer of hope that the big demographic wave isn’t going to happen exactly the way the professionals think it will because of principled young men like Kristopher M. Infante and groups like the Texas College Republicans. People fundamentally understand that the conservative agenda is the one that truly allows freedom and liberty for all, including women, and protects them from the misogynists on the progressive left .