Thank God for Rowdy Women

July 02, 2013 by Greg Garrett

Continued from Page 1

Mother and theologian Julie Goss Clawson helped me wrestle with things this morning. She posted on Facebook:

Fact—I hate abortion, wish it never had to happen. Also fact—unless the systems of the state/the church/etc. become actually pro-life and not just pro-birth, it is a necessary ill. So I applaud that the citizens of this state effectively influenced the legislative process in whatever way they could to protect what is sadly the only option for many women in a system that punishes the poor, restricts health care, and educates only the rich well. Banning abortion solves nothing. Fixing the system to reduce the need for it to ever be an option will.

Molly Ivins used to quote a piece of Texas wisdom: "Texas is hell on horses and women."

And so it is, and will continue to be. Our Governor, the estimable Rick Perry, has already called a second special legislative session to reconsider the abortion bill. But last Tuesday was an amazing moment, a milestone in the history of Texas. The People's Filibuster was a victory for the poor and rural women of this poor and far-flung state. A victory for the law. A victory for women's health. And a victory for rowdy women everywhere who know their rights, who refuse to be silenced, and who give young women like Lily and Sophie the role models they need to grow up to be rowdy women too.

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About Greg Garrett

Greg Garrett is (according to BBC Radio) one of America's leading voices on religion and culture. He is the author or co-author of over twenty books of fiction, theology, cultural criticism, and spiritual autobiography. His most recent books are The Prodigal, written with the legendary Brennan Manning, Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination, and My Church Is Not Dying: Episcopalians in the 21st Century. A contributor to Patheos since 2010, Greg also writes for the Huffington Post, Salon.com, OnFaith, The Tablet, Reform, and other web and print publications in the US and UK.

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