Greg Abbott and his surrogates surprised no one when they sunk to new lows with the whole Abortion Barbie campaign.
They forgot, however, that Barbie’s got a voice and mind of her own. She’s not just a bathing beauty. She’s a working woman, and working women understand that if you do equal work, you should get equal pay.
Barbie is everywhere. She’s gone into space, she’s practiced law and medicine, she’s made it big on the athletic field and in broadcast journalism. She’s made friends, bought a house or two, volunteered for service in the military … if a person can do it, Barbie’s done it.
And Barbie’s pissed, because in Texas, Greg Abbott and the Republican Party are determined to make it harder for her to live her life just because she’s a woman.
Barbie’s friends share her concern for how things are going down in Texas, so they’ve asked to share a few facts with you:
Barbie Dr. Kelly, a pediatrician, would like to remind you that Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents overall, about a quarter of its population, and has the most uninsured children of any state. That’s the truth, and that’s because of Republican policies Greg Abbott supports and will continue to support if elected.
Nikki is Teacher Barbie, and she’s had to deal with increasing class sizes and an ever-evolving slate of standardized tests. She’d like to remind you that when the Republican legislature proposed cutting over $10 billion (that’s with a B-billion) from the education budget, it was Senator Wendy Davis who filibustered the budget and got that number down by almost half to only $5.4 billion. That’s a verifiable fact. It was Senator Wendy Davis who saved the day for Texas teachers and students and public schools. And it has been Greg Abbott, as Attorney General, who has fought against giving public schools adequate funding to do their constitutionally mandated job.
Happy Family Doctor Barbie knows that babies’ health is critical to their success for the rest of their lives. She’d be a member of the Texas Medical Association if she practiced in Texas. The TMA supported Rep. Jessica Farrar and Rep. Armando Walle when they sponsored legislation to support and promote breast feeding in Texas. HB 741 provided direction on accommodations for breastfeeding by public employees, and would’ve helped thousands of working moms. HB 1706 expanded on current state provisions, ensuring women would be protected from harassment when breastfeeding in public.
It will come as no surprise to you that the Republican leadership in the didn’t prioritize or pass these bills, even though they were both voted out of committee with bipartisan support. The Republican leadership is willing to risk the health of babies to score political points.
Barbie and Ken have been practicing side by side for many years, doctors both of them. They agree that when it comes to decisions about reproductive choices like abortion, decisions are best made by women, their families, their doctors, and their God, without interference from the government.
Dr. Barbie and Dr. Ken want the legislature to know that doctors need the freedom to talk about complex medical issues with women struggling to make difficult choices without having to worry that they also need to include state-mandated messages and misinformation.
Representative Sarah Davis, a Republican, has talked to enough doctors to understand that. She proposed legislation last session, HB 2945, that would have removed a blatant lie from the literature doctors are required, by law, to give to all women seeking abortion care in Texas. The lie in the paperwork is that abortion causes breast cancer—you would think that we could remove outright lies from state-published literature. But that bill didn’t even get out of committee, thanks to Republican leadership, so the state of Texas continues to lie to women making this very personal choice.
That’s just a few Barbies reporting in, but stay tuned. We have Nurse Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, and all kinds of Barbies ready to talk about why Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte, and the Democrats on the ticket with them are the politicians and the party who are willing to give every woman, and every Texan, a fair shot at success.
nonsequiteuse 
Reblogged this on KatieSpeak and commented:
You’ll be shocked to discover I have feelings about Attorney General Greg Abbott’s attempts to use “Abortion Barbie” as a slur against Wendy Davis in his campaign for Texas governor. Not only does that insult the 33% of women who have had an abortion (myself included), but it’s an insult to Barbie.
However you feel about Barbie the doll, you have to give credit where it’s due. Over the years, Barbie has stepped into every field imaginable. Were she real, she would certainly have felt the effects of the GOP’s continual obstruction of equal pay laws.
So, in response to Abbott’s sexist slander of Wendy Davis — all of which occurs as he attempts to dodge having to debate her publicly — I give you my friend Andrea Greer’s spectacular rebuttal.