Originally published at: Woman suing Texas over abortion ban calls out Sen. Ted Cruz: "I nearly died on their watch" | Boing Boing
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I saw this yesterday and it’s heartbreaking. There are so many examples of this and there will literally be dead women because of these laws.
I found out a year or so ago my cousin went through something similar, but fortunately had the proper care and survived.
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“I nearly died on their watch.”
A lot of Texans will be able to recall the tenure of Cancun Cruz that way. Even taking into account the mouth-breathers who’ll vote for anyone with an R after his name, it continues to amaze me that this slimy walking embodiment of bad faith keeps getting re-elected.
Which is not to let Cornyn off the hook. He’s supposed to be what passes for the party’s adult in the room, but he panders to the Nat-Cs as often as Cruz does.
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Addressing Cruz and Cornyn was probably a wasted effort - they don’t give a damn (which is why they weren’t even there). Can’t shame someone into changing their position when they have no shame. Maybe calling them out specifically will galvanize others into opposing them, though their own positions on the matter should do that.
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Gerrymandering and party loyalty is a hell of a drug!
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Of all the many and various foul reeking lumps of political slime, ted cruz is the one that manages to register most frequently a “How the hell can anyone vote for that @#$!?!?” He’s proven time and again not to respect the voters, equity, his own family, or even his own self respect (sucking up to trump who just derides him); and was clearly involved in traitor-ship to the republic itself! …yes “gerrymandering”, but he’s even been reelected! ,@#$.
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money does wonders for an election.
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Senators are elected by state rather than district, so gerrymandering doesn’t affect senate elections.
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JFC not this nonsense again. Yes, gerrymandering does not directly impact a state-wide vote. However, it is a powerful tool for disenfranchisement and also has knockdown effects in facilitating voter suppression by state legislatures and county governments.
It does have a significant impact. Particularly in a state as biased as Texas. When voters see their local and state candidates lose over and over and over, it makes it hard to retain the will to vote. When election administrations are controlled by the right wing, It means inconvenient polling locations, fewer polling locations in historically democratic areas, and more oversight/interference of historically democratic cities and counties. A legislature voted in because of gerrymandering Is the legislature approving the conservative and vote suppressing secretary of State as well. A legislature created to be conservative by gerrymandering is also passing bills like the voter suppression bill that was passed into law in the legislative session before the current one.
You really cannot truthfully say that gerrymandering does not affect statewide elections
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Exactly. Gerrymandering is how you get one polling place in counties with five milliin people and hours of waiting time to vote. It’s how hundreds of thousands of voters get stealth-purged from the registration rolls only in urban areas. It’s how you get state laws that allow corporations to fund campaigns but make it illegal for teachers and electrician unions to contribute to candidates.
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In a purple state maybe, but in Texas?
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What @kii said…
Texas is a lot more purple than you think, which is why Abbott and the GOP controlled state legislature is doubling down on yet more gerrymandering, including finding ways to reject the votes of democratic urban voters in the state.
I remember not too long ago, lots of people around here dismissing the idea that we here in Georgia could elect two Democratic senators, one Black, one Jewish as our Senators, but we did it not once, but in the case of the good reverend twice… 
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You did not read a single thing I said, did you? There are a lot of people who would routinely vote Democrat who have been disenfranchised through the voter suppression bills passed by the legislature, which is mostly GOP because of gerrymandering. Literally thousands of voters were wrongfully purged from the rolls because of the conservative secretary of state. The Texas legislature, which I emphasize again is only majority conservative because of gerrymandering, are considering a bill this session that would make it illegal to have a polling station on college campuses.
Also, Texas is not as red as people think. It was considered a swing state in 2020.
No state is a monolith. Particularly not one of the most populous states in the country.
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The margins in statewide offices last time were the slimmest they’ve been in decades. The GOP is terrified. It’s why they’ve pushed bills about nixing county-wide voting in favor of forcing people to vote in their precinct and also why they are pushing bills to allow the state to control the election administration in Democratic urban counties like Harris County. Hell. It’s why the state GOP org is suing Harris County over the results of the last election!
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For a specific example: Beto lost to Cruz by a hair in 2018 with 42% voter turnout (that’s voter suppression impact for you - in states like Oregon and Washington with automatic voter registration and vote by mail, voter turnout reaches 70% even for midterms).
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I hope more women sue whatever fascist state tortures them about this dumb abortion ban. Hit them where it hurts. And senators should be sued Personally.
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