Erick Erickson, Wendy Davis, and that Catpiss Smell

Red State blogger Erick Erickson got a little attention for calling TX State Senator Wendy Davis "Abortion Barbie". That's pretty catchy. I can't say that I'm all that shocked by the name, because, damnit--pink shoes. You have totally pwn'd, Double-E. Maybe she will continue to be associated with the safe, legal medical procedure whose cause she took to the floor of the Texas legislature to champion on behalf of female-bodied people who might need it. Huh. And just think--she'll have Erick Erickson to thank for that particular bit of notoriety! Winzors, dude.

Although, I do have to quibble a little bit on the "not knowing about Kermit Gosnell and horrors thereof", because, and I want to thank Erickson for reminding me of this--he was not performing legal or safe medical procedures. He wasn't. That was the problem. His practice was based on desperate women who could not obtain abortions because of however far along they were, and the laws of their particular area in some cases, and one of the things he did was fake up the ultrasounds and just pretend he was doing legal abortions. But the thing I can't really get out of my head is that catpiss smell.

See, that was what his clinic smelled like. And he still had patients. Because they could not imagine a life where they carried a child to term or raised it. They could not. And they smelled catpiss and knew they were probably putting their lives at risk, puttting them in the hands of at the minimum, someone who was kind of fucked up--because catpiss, amirite? But they didn't see any other solution. Just like women who can in no way afford to carry a child to term and/or raise it in Texas might seek out some less than safe, less than legal procedure in the paradigm this rotten, inhumane, anti-abortion legislation would create. Which is what Wendy Davis was interested in preventing and actually talked about. But if you just wanted to look at her shoes...oh well.