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JESSICA DESVARIEUX: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.
The Texas antiabortion bill has been making headlines recently, especially after Texas
Democratic Senator Wendy Davis staged a ten-hour filibuster that killed the bill. But the fight
continues with Texas Governor Rick Perry pushing for an antiabortion bill, and the House of
Representatives will vote on the bill this week.
Now joining us to discuss all of this is Rocio Villalobos. She works at the University of
Texas at Austin's Multicultural Engagement Center and volunteers and organizes with local
immigrant rights and women rights groups in the Austin area. She also recently testified
in front of the House of Representatives there in Texas.
Thank you for joining us, Rocio.
ROCIO VILLALOBOS: Hi. Thank you for having me.
DESVARIEUX: So, Rocio, my first question is: what exactly is in this bill? And could you
describe for our viewers what the consequences would be if the bill was passed?
VILLALOBOS: Sure. One of the things that is in the bill is that it limits the amount of
time that women have to get an abortion from 24 weeks to 20 weeks through a pregnancy,
during which women can go and get an abortion. It would also reduce the number of clinics
that are available for women to receive abortion services in Texas. Right now there are approximately
42 clinics in the state where women can access these services. But based on new provisions
in the bill that would require clinics to upgrade their facilities, it would reduce
the number down to five clinics in the area. It would also limit the ability of different
centers and clinics to dispense the abortion pill [incompr.] something that the women need.
DESVARIEUX: Rocio, who would this impact specifically? What group? What sort of socioeconomic class
are we talking about?
VILLALOBOS: Well, we're seeing that based on the provisions in the bill, the areas that
would be most deeply impacted would be in poor areas, rural areas, areas in which there's
only maybe one clinic that serves hundreds or thousands of women. So we're seeing that
the impact of this bill falls along lines of race and class, because some of the areas
that will also be most impacted would be along the border. So you have to think about how
these closures of the clinics or their failure to provide abortion services in the future
would mean that women who live in these areas would have to travel further distances if
they were to need to seek an abortion. And the disparities would definitely fall along
lines of race and class.
DESVARIEUX: [inaud.] the women who are out there on the front lines, these are--they're
being represented, the women who would be directly affected? Are they the ones protesting
in this?
VILLALOBOS: Right now we've actually seen a lot of involvement from working-class women,
but also white middle-class women who are outraged about the attacks on women's health
care in general. And that's one of the future steps that the coalition Rise Up Texas really
wants to work on, because we recognize that it's important to have those that will be
most affected and deeply impacted by this bill to be able to have their voices heard
and to be the ones that are at the forefront of this issue.
DESVARIEUX: Well, this bill is coming up this week, but in North Carolina we actually saw
the Senate just recently passed a antiabortion bill as well. Also, in Ohio, the governor
signed a new state budget containing antiabortion measures into law. Do you see this as a national
trend?
VILLALOBOS: It's absolutely a national trend, and I think it speaks to the reach of the
conservative attack across the board on people's rights, on women's rights. And I think that
this is going to be a really important moment for women in particular to come together and
to get more involved and be more active and to make it clear that we need to stand up
for ourselves and that we need to lose some of the fear that we have about speaking out
and mobilizing and organizing within our communities.
DESVARIEUX: As you mentioned, women getting organized, are you guys planning anything
in the future this week?
VILLALOBOS: We are. We've actually been--as a result of everything that's been happening
around abortion rights and attack on women's access to health care, this coalition called
Rise Up Texas came together and is trying to do some work in the Austin and Texas community
in order to get women in particular more involved and active and teaching others about what's
going on in order to help them come and testify at the capital. So this weekend we're planning
a series of trainings surrounding the bill, doing some teach-ins, doing some workshops
around civil disobedience and direct action, so that we're prepared in the future if, you
know, based on how things happen, we need to be able to plan accordingly and act accordingly.
So what--that's leading up to the hearing that's happening on Monday at the Senate.
People will get a chance to testify and to state their opposition to the bill. And then
after that, I mean, we won't know the outcome until late Monday evening, probably not until
12 a.m., when the hearings end. But we need to be ready to mobilize and to continue
pushing back against these conservative attacks on women's rights.
DESVARIEUX: Thank you again for joining us, Rocio.
VILLALOBOS: Thank you for having me.
DESVARIEUX: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.