On October 19^th 2015, the State of Texas made the decision to cut off funding for Medicaid to Planned Parenthood clinics due to the apparent “undercover videos” that discussed matters of human tissue. The Republican Governor Gregg Abbot ordered an immediate investigation following the videos posted online. However, Planned Parenthood is doing their best to strike back quickly claiming that thousands of women across the state who seek non-abortion health services through Medicaid at its clinics will suffer. "It is completely outrageous that Texas officials are using these thoroughly discredited, fraudulent videos to cut women off from preventive health care, including cancer screenings, HIV testing, and birth control," (Executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America) Legal minds across Texas however say that the move made by Gregg Abbot might not even be legal. This move made could result in legal action, especially since a Louisiana Judge ordered that Medicaid funding must keep up for an additional 14 days. The Lawsuit brought up against the state of Louisiana states that the state couldn’t legally end funding for non-abortion services like breast-cancer screenings or gynecological exams. The Governor made the claim that the cutting of funds "is another step in providing greater access to safe health care for women while protecting our most vulnerable — the unborn." However the Governor doesn’t realize how many women are suffering because of the current cuts. It doesn’t make sense to cut the entire funding for Medicaid when Planned Parenthood provides far more services than abortion.

The University of Texas packed with guns?

I chose to read my classmates article "The University of Texas packed with guns?" on the current law/controversy surrounding the Campus Carry bill. For some background information, Texas will allow students and faculty to carry concealed firearms (with campus permission) starting in August 2016. The author of the article believes that the Texas government should not allow people “any forms of firearms on campus” His first argument against campus carry consists of a “changing atmosphere” within the classroom. He argues that once both professors and students are aware of the individuals carrying, they would become psychologically fearful of them. “Professors would fear inviting students into their offices to talk about a failing grade if they think that students are armed.” I feel this is a great point made, as professors/TA’s are constantly holding office hours. Typically, office hours/meetings are not always about the happiest subjects. Either a student is confused, or concerned about his or her grades in the class. College is an emotional place, and students are constantly under stress and pressure. His second argument consists of the current local government increasing security measures around the state. This would consist of a strong campus police force with professionals trained to react to “school shooter” type scenarios. These two arguments presented by the author are strong and well written. I feel both arguments can be agreed to by both parties in Texas, as they consist of common sense ideas.

The state and local Government of Texas should do everything in its power to institute election-day voter registration. Many states including Texas require its citizens to register weeks before Election Day, making it fairly hard for people to vote. The easier it is to vote, the more Texas residents will. However, Texas seems to be holding out on the idea of same day voter registration. The four states with the best voter turnout happen to be states with same day voting registration. The state of Texas has awful voter turnout, ranking 47^th in the entire country. However, the idea of same day registration scares people. The Republicans in particular love that citizens take 1-2 weeks in order for registration to be completed.

This low voter turnout has contributed to the Republican dominance in Texas. High voter turnout in almost every scenario has been seen to benefit democrats. In fact, instead of making it easier, republicans in control want to make it even more difficult to vote. They can do this by passing a voter ID law, making it especially hard for those to become registered to vote. It is another step to take in the already difficult voter registration process. For people in small rural areas, it is fairly difficult to travel to the DMV or a state agency that prints Texas identification cards. This means that people won’t take the time to get an ID, because their vote seems worthless. In a conservative state like Texas, it should be the government’s job to make voting easier for the people. However, it is in the best interest of the republican lead government to keep people away from this years polling booths.