Rick Perry declares second special session to pass “pro-life” bill on same day as 500th execution

One would think that the irony of such an action would be too much. But nope! Yesterday, the state of Texas executed Kimberly McCarthy, the state’s 500th execution since the death penalty was re-enacted in 1982:

Her death marks a grim milestone in a state that kills more people than any other in the country. Texas has carried out more than 40 percent of the roughly 1,300 executions that have taken place in the United States since the Supreme Court re-instated capital punishment in 1976. A 2011 study found that 92 percent of men sentenced to die in Texas were black.

On the same day, Governor Perry called a second special session of the Texas state legislature to enact the “pro-life” omnibus bill that Wendy Davis and the people of Texas stood up against and defeated in a highly publicized and supported filibuster. THE VERY SAME DAY.

Really emphasizes the Governor’s respect for human life, don’t you think?

New York, NY

Verónica Bayetti Flores has spent the last years of her life living and breathing reproductive justice. She has led national policy and movement building work on the intersections of immigrants' rights, health care access, young parenthood, and LGBTQ liberation, and has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, and demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color. In 2008 Verónica obtained her Master’s degree in the Sexuality and Health program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She loves cooking, making art, listening to music, and thinking about the ways art forms traditionally seen as feminine are valued and devalued. In addition to writing for Feministing, she is currently spending most of her time doing policy work to reduce the harms of LGBTQ youth of color's interactions with the police and making sure abortion care is accessible to all regardless of their income.

Verónica is a queer immigrant writer, activist, and rabble-rouser.

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