Texas Continues Their Attacks On Women

As was referenced in the comments for the previous post, things are not going well in Texas in many respects:

The same day Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed a bill that may lead to the closure of most abortion clinics in the state, Republican state legislators introduced a bill that would ban abortions as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected.

ThinkProgress first reported that state Reps. Phil King (R), Dan Flynn (R), and Geanie Morrison (R) filed House Bill 59 on Thursday, which, if enacted, would be on par with the most severe abortion ban in the country. The bill would require women seeking abortion to first undergo an ultrasound, and if the fetal heartbeat can be detected -- which usually occurs around six weeks of pregnancy -- she would be banned from having the procedure.

Many women don't even know they're pregnant after six weeks. In order to effectively detect a heartbeat that early into the pregnancy, doctors usually have to perform a transvaginal ultrasound, which is more invasive than the traditional jelly-on-the-belly procedure.

I wonder if the mobilization that has been so vocal in countering this will lead to a similar "Bradley effect" as we saw in Missouri last election when it comes to voting patterns. You would think that when legislation like this that is so clearly designed to humiliate women is getting serious consideration, that type of backlash may be coming.