(h/t Heather at VideoCafe)

It's hard as a woman to look at the sh*t-eating grin on the face of Rick Perry and not feel the urge to scream in his face at the very least. Because in his privileged unable-to-get-pregnant world, women's reproductive health is simply nothing more than a states' rights issue (just don't worry your pretty little head about that silly Supreme Court decision).

And damn Candy Crowley for betraying her gender by letting the addled Perry get away with turning this into a late-term abortion debate. When Perry says he disputes state Senator Wendy Davis's op-ed that this law--that was so draconian it couldn't pass in a normal legislative session--would result in closing 90% of clinics in Texas, where was the professional journalistic question of "what do you base that denial on?" Because we all know that Perry pulled his facts from the part of his body on which he was sitting.

Crowley then allows Perry turn this into a late-term abortion argument. Notwithstanding that abortions that take place in the final trimester (definitions vary, but generally considered in the 24th week of gestation) only comprise about one percent of all abortions performed, and that almost all of them are done when the life of the mother or viability of the fetus is in serious jeopardy, the Texas law demands standards that will close most clinics, elminating the possibility for women to have access to the still-legal first trimester abortion, as well as a host of other healthcare. Wendy Davis:

Simply put, this bill would take away access to the most fundamental form of health care women need. It would close down almost 90% of the women's clinics in this state. This comes after more than 50 women's health clinics providing cancer screening and family planning services were closed because the Republicans withdrew state-financed support from them. We now have 42. Under this draconian proposal, a state as expansive as Texas would have only five clinics remaining to serve thousands and thousands of women. Real Texans don't want any woman to die of cancer because she can't get decent health care or medical advice. Real Texans don't want any woman to lose control of her life because she can't get birth control. During the filibuster, women around the state related thousands of personal stories to me: One young woman said contraceptives gave her a chance to choose motherhood when she was ready. Women were helped by a clinic with the difficult and highly personal decision to end a pregnancy. Another woman said a clinic had helped comfort her when a much-wanted baby was dying inside her.

Simply put, Rick Perry doesn't care if Texas women die from very real health concerns, as long as he took care of a "problem" that only happens one percent of the time. And he thinks the federal government is too large and inefficient.