Dear Senator Dan Patrick,

Didn’t we just do this?  Two weeks ago, the State Affairs
Committee of the Texas Senate heard testimony regarding another one of those
abortion-related bills that pop up like clockwork every legislative
session.  This one, sponsored by you, was a mandatory ultrasound bill; the
original text of the bill would require not only that ultrasound images be
taken and displayed to the patient two hours before an abortion took place, but
that the physician provide an audible heartbeat and "a simultaneous
verbal explanation of the results of the ultrasound images, including… the
presence of external members and internal organs." 

But this letter isn’t about that bill, not really. 
It’s not even about the 85,000 women who receive abortions in Texas
each year (and will continue to be subjected to a 24-hour waiting period and
state-endorsed misinformation linking abortions to
breast cancer, whether or not the bill passes).  This article is
actually about Rachel in Bexar County, whose mother is 73 years old and
hasn’t been able to afford to see a doctor for the past ten years, even
though she found a lump in her breast several years ago.  It’s about
Ivonne in El Paso County, a single mom who can’t afford health insurance
for herself and drives to Mexico when she needs to see a doctor or fill a
prescription.  It’s about Anjail in Bell County, who "was
never educated that no means no" and didn’t realize it was rape
when her partner forced her to have sex with him.

Senator Patrick, you said you "always have approached this bill
first [as being] about women’s health."  Women’s health
is a priority for me, too.  That’s why I coordinate the Healthy
Women, Healthy Families project, a statewide coalition collecting
surveys and personal stories from Texas women regarding the
healthcare challenges that they face.  Rachel, Ivonne and Anjail are just
three of the hundreds of women who have honestly and courageously shared their
stories with us in an effort to help people like you and me –
legislators, policymakers, advocates – understand what healthcare
challenges they actually deal with every day.  Not just the ones that you
and I assume are important.

Senator Patrick, if I’ve done my math correctly, it seems to me
that each year there are at least 11 million women and girls in Texas
who AREN’T getting abortions.  Like the 25-year-old woman who had to
give up her job in order to be eligible for Medicaid so that she could afford
to give birth to her son.  Or the woman who tried to obtain a tubal ligation
but was told by her doctor that she was "too young and too fat to have
the procedure."  If you’re really passionate about
women’s reproductive health (and here I will perform a gross suspension
of disbelief and claim that you are), why do you choose to ignore everything
that doesn’t have to do with preventing abortion?

I have listened to you and other legislators discuss in great detail
the nuances of a clause about whether or not the patient may avert her eyes
when her doctor displays the ultrasound.  Meanwhile, Cheryl hasn’t
had a pap smear in over five years.   And Sharon needs
transportation to another town for a breast cancer screening, since she
can’t afford any of the clinics in the city where she lives.

I wish you would join the Healthy Women, Healthy
Families coalition, Senator Patrick.  I know we have
diametrically opposed viewpoints on abortion.  But that’s
okay.  Because sometimes, reproductive health really isn’t about
abortion.

Signed,

Katie Mahoney