A Texas Democrat has introduced a bill
highlighting his state's rampant use of capital punishment and sharp restrictions on abortion:
State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. (D) introduced the measure to counter a slew of abortion restrictions proposed by Republican legislators in the Texas statehouse. Dutton's measure, HB 45, would block any law that restricts access to abortions until 60 days after the state abolishes its death penalty.
Just as Texas Republicans have pushed through
a series of measures attacking women's health care and culminating with the recent bill that will close most clinics in the state, Texas is a leader in executions, with a notoriously broken, corrupt system leading to
outcomes that are
appalling even to people who support capital punishment in theory.
Dutton's bill takes its place with a host of other Democratic proposals putting a twist on hateful Republican bills, like bills to regulate men's reproductive health offered in response to bills targeting women's health, or proposals to drug test legislators offered in response to bills requiring unemployment insurance or welfare applicants to be drug tested.