Texas Adapts the The Tort Reform Law

        On September 1, 2011, Texas put into action the new Tort Reform Law.  The TRL"s intent is to decrease the amount of frivolous law suits brought into Texas courts.  It introduces a "loser pays" rule for motions dismissed in a civil action law suit.  The loser pays rule requires that the losing party in a litigation pay the fees and costs of the prevailing party.  The law was tweaked in committee to only allow prevailing parties to recover costs and fees at the motion to dismiss phase.  This leaves the plaintiffs to strongly weigh their options and to really decide whether their case is sufficient enough to survive a motion to dismiss.  Defendants are scarce to file because of the fear of obtaining all the costs of the prevailing party.  And guess who backed this bill 100%... Gov. Rick Perry.  The Gov. will put his stamp of approval on anything that will screw the financially less advantaged.
        I'm not knocking the TRL all the way because there is some decency in it.  For example, it does free up our courts a bit so that there is room for the cases that really need attention.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with sorting through the junk cases, filtering out what is irrelevant because, obviously, not everything deserves it's day in court.  The part I'm in disagreement with is Perry's full, undying support of the loser pays provision.  Other states have used the Tort Laws to their advantage without issuing the loser pays rule.  This is just another way to coddle big corporations, not to protect the commoners.  This is yet another way to wrap a warm, fuzzy  blanket around the financially elite.  Thanks Gov. for keeping the rich warm.

Texas Abortion Law Actually Makes Sense

        As of Oct. 1st 2011, Texas state law requires that all women seeking an abortion must make at least two visits to the abortion facility.  One of the visits must be at least 24 hours before the scheduled abortion time for an ultrasound.  Although an ultrasound has always been a typical procedure at the time of the abortion, this new law allows for time between the initial shock of the ultrasound and the time of the actual termination.  This allows women the time needed to actually process the reality of their final decision after seeing the fetus.
        I'm so glad that I came across Maria F. Jaramillo's post, "New Texas Law on Abortion", because I had no idea that this new abortion law existed.http://morethanjustastate.blogspot.com/ Maria touched on something that is very important.  The implementation of this law is not to take away the woman's right to choose what she will do with her own body, but to make sure to enlist everything necessary so that it is at least an educated decision.  Education is the key word here and a very powerful tool.  To educate the potential mothers on what an abortion really entails, will hopefully make women more aware of ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
        I am in no way here to judge anyone that is for or against abortions, that is not what this is about.  I personally, have been in many different situations where people close to me have terminated pregnancies because they were not ready to be a mothers, and sadly others were forced to terminate for health reasons.  Whatever the reason, I commend Texas on making an educated decision to put this law in effect.  The law is not forcing anything down anyone's throat, but subtly trying to initiate change in the right direction.  Who said Texans couldn't be subtle.