# I'm confounded that no one is asking about the two ABORTIONS that Wendy Davis had. Is she a liar? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996 "2014-09-30T18:50:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/81 "2014-10-01T12:38:55Z")
\*\*I’m confounded that no one is asking about the two ABORTIONS that Wendy Davis had. Is she a liar? \*\* **Kstarnes** , there are a ton of reasons to not vote for Wendy Davis. However, this topic is a non-starter. Whether she had two or twenty is immaterial. It was her choice to do so, and it is absolutely no one else’s business whether she did. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/82 "2014-10-01T12:49:23Z")
And here’s something you don’t hear me say very often: **Clothahump** is absolutely right. (At least about the irrelevance of this particular objection to Davis’s candidacy.) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/83 "2014-10-01T13:12:01Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Miss Manners is really phoning it in these days. **Lobohan** , on the other hand, is totally slaying me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/84 "2014-10-01T13:18:01Z")
> [@kstarnes](#): > > Here is what I suspect: Ah yes, the old “I have no real knowledge, so I’m going to assume the thing that pisses me off the most, then go on the attack” gambit. How awesome of you. Thanks for playing. Now explain why any of us should give a damn about you and the shit that crawls out of your brain. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/85 "2014-10-01T13:24:41Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > She’s a _Texas_ woman! Cactus. Yeesh. I guess I’m glad I’m a damnyankee. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/86 "2014-10-01T13:50:38Z")
She made her name as a national figure via abortion rights. She doesn’t _have_ to answer the questions but she sure as hell should be asked them. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/87 "2014-10-01T13:57:23Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > She made her name as a national figure via abortion rights. She doesn’t _have_ to answer the questions but she sure as hell should be asked them. She has answered them, in detail, in her memoir. She talks about when and why she had these abortions. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/88 "2014-10-01T14:07:58Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > Whether it’s blatant misogyny, “scientific” racism, **JDT** on circumcision, **Der Trihs** on atheism, somebody I forget on declawing cats, or goddman **Cesario** on fucking pedophila, we go through these cycles. That’s a good point. Do we know if this slut has ever had her cats declawed? And, if so, was it before, after, or during her first two abortions? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/89 "2014-10-01T14:18:04Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > She doesn’t _have_ to answer the questions but she sure as hell should be asked them. What questions would you ask her? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/90 "2014-10-01T14:27:29Z")
> [@kstarnes](#): > > Wendy Davis wants to be governor, she has smartly gotten ahead of the potential bombshell of a potential story by revealing that she has had not one, but two abortions. A gentleman is not supposed to ask about a woman’s abortion but I’m no gentleman (and she’s no lady) and I suspect she’s lying. I can understand why a male politician wouldn’t want to touch this but the media should ask. > . Here you go: Her twitter handle: @WendyDavisTexas Her contact info from her website: [http://www.wendydavistexas.com/contact/](http://www.wendydavistexas.com/contact/) Her congressional contact info: [http://www.davis.senate.state.tx.us/#form](http://www.davis.senate.state.tx.us/#form) Explain to her that you are assuming she lied about the reasons for her abortions because (you fill in the blank since I have no clue why you think it) and you’d like her to release her medical records to prove she’s not lying. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/91 "2014-10-01T14:29:58Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > She made her name as a national figure via abortion rights. She doesn’t _have_ to answer the questions but she sure as hell should be asked them. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > She has answered them, in detail, in her memoir. She talks about when and why she had these abortions. If you have a better way of undermining her position on this issue by implying she is lying about it, I’d like to hear it! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/92 "2014-10-01T14:37:15Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > She made her name as a national figure via abortion rights. She doesn’t _have_ to answer the questions but she sure as hell should be asked them. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What questions would you ask her? Something about steel and cement in the World Trade Center, I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/93 "2014-10-01T14:44:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Do you have any evidence that she’s lying? > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > According to [her memoir](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Davis_(politician)#Early_life.2C_education.2C_and_family), the abortions came _after_ her two daughters were born, and were due to an ectopic pregnancy and the fetus suffering Dandy-Walker syndrome. Personally, I don’t think the removal of an ectopic pregnancy should even be considered an abortion. It’s a medically necessary procedure to save, in most eventualities, the woman’s life, and certainly her fertility. The zygote, or embryo, or blastocyst, or whatever stage the thing is in when it gets stuck before it gets to the uterus, is not going to make it, because it simply cannot develop into a baby where it is. “Abortion” means terminating a pregnancy that would otherwise progress; ectopic pregnancies will not progress-- referring to eliminating them as “abortions” is like referring to removing an infected appendix as “aborting the the appendix.” Dandy-Walker syndrome is a kind of hydrancephaly, where certain brain structures either don’t develop, or develop, but atrophy, and the places where they should be are filled with fluid. Unlike a lot of other malformations that involve large parts of the brain being missing, DWS affects mostly the cerebellar area, and not the cerebrum, but it often also results in absence of the corpus callosum. Babies born with it also usually have limb and heart defects. Because it sometimes involves the occipital lobe too, people with it are often visually impaired to varying degrees. I met a kid with this once. He was blind, in a wheelchair because he couldn’t balance to walk, although he could crawl, but his parents used the chair in public so he wouldn’t hurt himself. He was five, but intellectually about 14 months (the parts of his brain that had been normal were damaged from hydrocephaly and seizures), and didn’t speak at all. He’s already had two heart surgeries, and took several medications daily. His life expectancy wasn’t very long. Those both sound like pretty well-justified abortions (or, procedure, and single abortion) to me. I know there are people who would claim the deity had some reason for wanting her to have a child with this particular condition, and she thwarted his will, but not everyone believes that. Personally, I think she was obligated to consider how much having a child who needed round-the-clock care would affect the two other children she already had. > [@Smeghead](#): > > I’m so confused. It’s almost as if this chain of logic is tissue-paper thin and already starting to shred into tiny slivers of stupid. Lovely image. I’m going to note that one. > [@Trion](#): > > Nitpick: It should be spelled **ABORTIONS** or even _ **ABORTIONS** _, although Strunk and White say that _ABO_R_T_I_O_N_S_\*\* is also acceptable. I think the APA and Chicago manuals of style also allow BABY-MURDERS. > [@grude](#): > > Uh unless the tree limb crushed his testicles why couldn’t they procreate? It may not be natural, depends on your view of a turkey baster, but still. If a man can’t get an erection due to a spinal cord injury, sperm retrieval is accomplished by electric stimulation, which means a dildo up the butt that delivers an electric charge to stimulate the prostate. It’s an expensive procedure that a lot of men probably would rather not go through if they are satisfied with adoption. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > DNC meeting? Heh. Wait-- “DNC” –\> “D&C” coincidence? or conspiracy? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/94 "2014-10-01T14:50:08Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > She made her name as a national figure via abortion rights. She doesn’t _have_ to answer the questions but she sure as hell should be asked them. I imagine she has been asked many many questions about abortion generally, and the laws and policies related to abortion. That’s all fair when some has “made her name” via the issue. I also would bet she’s answered all those questions. I don’t see the need for anyone to ask her detailed questions about her own procedures. Do you ask your dentist how often he or she flosses when they urge you to floss daily? The abortion arguments she makes are either valid or they are not. Her personal medical history doesn’t make them more or less valid. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/95 "2014-10-01T15:17:05Z")
Once again the party of ‘minimal government’ and ‘minimal intrusion into our lives’ becomes psychotically obsessed with someone’s uterus. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/96 "2014-10-01T15:26:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What questions would you ask her? I’m merely speaking against those who say that she shouldn’t be asked any questions about her abortions. If she opened the can of worms it would be hypocritical for her to say the topic is off-limits. That being said, she seems to have addressed it so I’m not interested in badgering her about it. I still think she’s a shameless political opportunist. As a Texan, I guess I’m fairly pleased she won’t win. I honestly think she’s a lightweight. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/97 "2014-10-01T15:29:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > So go out of your no-girls-allowed treehouse and ask her for her medical records. I could use some entertainment. They might as well ask for her long-form birth certificate at the same time, plus her marriage license and her kids’ birth certificates, her college diploma and transcripts, and so forth, so they can reject the validity of all her vital records at once. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/98 "2014-10-01T15:33:24Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I’m merely speaking against those who say that she shouldn’t be asked any questions about her abortions. If she opened the can of worms it would be hypocritical for her to say the topic is off-limits. You’re posting in a vacuum then, or just feeling contrary, since no one here is saying the former and she has not said the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/99 "2014-10-01T15:34:44Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I still think she’s a shameless political opportunist. As opposed to say Dan Patrick? Or Rick Perry who rode Bush’s coattails to the governor’s mansion and switched from (D) to (R) at a convenient time? There are precious few people running for high office in Texas who aren’t opportunists. You just happen not to like this one but still trying to justify it as something even remotely objective. That’s not happening. Nothing wrong with just plain not liking somebody, but don’t trying to pass it off as something more noble than it really is. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996/100 "2014-10-01T15:39:09Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I’m merely speaking against those who say that she shouldn’t be asked any questions about her abortions. I wonder if it’s possible to abort a straw fetus before it grows up into a strawman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confounded-that-no-one-is-asking-about-the-two-abortions-that-wendy-davis-had-is-she-a-liar/699996.md?page=6)