$500 For That There Baby

Isn't this illegal or something? What is wrong with these folks? This precious fetus that folks are willing to blow up clinics over is only worth $500? What is it that they don't get that pregnancy isn't some process carried out on an assembly line? What would $500 cover in terms of a woman's bodily changes, expenses and emotional well being? It's clear that these people really don't view women as anything other than breeders. But $500 to endure pregnancy then sell the baby is insulting!

Ah Texas. Via culturekitchen we find out that Sen. Dan Patrick, a Republican talk-radio host from Houston and opponent of women's repro rights, is proposing a bill that would pay women $500 for giving their babies up for adoption rather than having abortions.

Under Patrick's SB 1567, AKA the Texas Baby Purchasing Act of 2007, women would qualify for a $500 payment from the state within 60 days of signing away all parental rights to their newborn children.

Wow, what a fucking deal! As Amanda notes, that's a baby-making wage of $.07 an hour. And they say republicans don't value women!

Someone mentioned this on an email list I'm on, and I had the same thought: this reminds me of the oh-so-lovely group that targets poor women and women of color to get sterilized for cash.

It's just so fucking insulting, I don't have the words.

Luckily, Bitch PhD does:

Honey, $500 isn't even going to pay for the extra groceries you'll eat during a pregnancy. Let alone the prenatal care, if you're not insured or on Medicaid, or the cost of the birth.

Senator Patrick, would you agree to take care of a neighbor's dog for nine months for a measly $500? Where the fuck do you get the balls to offer women $500 to rent out their uteruses and sell their children?

I think that men should be barred from the abortion discussion - particularly those who should have been one.

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