World Population Estimate: 7,119,370,068 at 15:04 UTC (EST+5) Oct 22, 2013

7 Comments on "World Population Estimate: 7,119,370,068 at 15:04 UTC (EST+5) Oct 22, 2013"

bobinget on Tue, 22nd Oct 2013 10:30 pm 



Texas Abortion Laws Will Close Clinics, Witness Testifies

New Texas laws requiring abortion doctors to have local hospital admitting privileges will likely force clinics to close, compelling women seeking the procedure to travel substantially farther, a trial witness said.

Joseph Potter, a University of Texas demographer, testified for Planned Parenthood yesterday in federal court in Austin, Texas, in a trial over the group’s challenge to the privileges measure and a provision barring anyone except a doctor from administering abortion-inducing drugs.

Legislative debate over the Texas abortion restrictions in June catapulted to prominence Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis, now running for the governorship, whose filibuster against the measure drew national media coverage. Photographer: Stewart F. House/Getty Images

Clinics that close probably won’t be replaced by new facilities that comply with those abortion-related regulations and others signed into law by Governor Rick Perry on July 18, Potter told U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel.

“My opinion is that is unlikely,” he said. Seventy-six family planning clinics closed after 2011 funding cuts and none of those reopened, Potter said.

Planned Parenthood last month sued to block the hospital affiliation and drug dispensing requirements set to take effect Oct. 29, arguing they unconstitutionally burden women’s rights.

Texas Solicitor General Jonathan F. Mitchell disputed those assertions in his opening statement yesterday, saying the group had no evidence to support its claims and was wrongly trying to shift the burden of proof to the government.

Abortion Clinics

The legislation, Texas House Bill 2, also bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and, as of Sept. 1, 2014, requires abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. Those provisions weren’t challenged in Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit.

“This is an important day for those who support life and for those who support the health of Texas women,” Perry, a Republican, said in a statement announcing he’d signed the legislation.

Debate over the issue in June catapulted to prominence Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, whose filibuster against the bill drew national media coverage.

Davis on Oct. 3 kicked off a bid to be the first Democrat elected governor of the second-biggest U.S. state in area and population since Ann W. Richards in 1990.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a named defendant in the Planned Parenthood case, is seeking the Republican nomination to succeed Perry.

Constitutional Issues

While Planned Parenthood initially sought a preliminary court order blocking the laws, Yeakel on Oct. 8 set the case for a trial before him yesterday on the constitutional issues. Both sides waived their right to a jury.

Yeakel yesterday urged attorneys for both sides to proceed expeditiously, saying the trial’s purpose isn’t to challenge the legality of abortion.

“This court’s job is not to rule on whether women should be allowed abortions,” he said. The issue is whether the challenged legislation falls within “existing constitutional confines or whether it does not.”

The legislation requires a doctor who performs the procedure to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48 kilometers) of his clinic. It also eliminates the availability of drug-induced abortions after the seventh week of a pregnancy.

Abortion Drugs

Two drugs that will induce an abortion when used in combination are typically taken a day or two apart, according to court papers. The first, Mifepristone — also known as RU-486 or Mifeprex — is typically administered by a doctor.

The second, Misoprostol, also called Cytotec, can be taken by a patient at the time and place of her own choosing, a practice that would be ended by the new law, according to Planned Parenthood’s complaint.

The affiliation rule will force one in three health centers currently providing abortions to stop, ending services in six cities, Planned Parenthood said in court papers. The requirement may cause more than 22,000 women a year to be denied access to abortions, the group said.

The 30-mile rule is unjustified because fewer than 0.3 percent of abortions nationwide result in hospitalization, according to Planned Parenthood.

Mitchell, the state’s lawyer, disputed the group’s claims.

‘Any Evidence’

“They do not have any evidence, let alone proof, to back up these assertions,” he told Yeakel yesterday.

“The Supreme Court has recognized that the state’s interest in promoting fetal life is present throughout pregnancy,” Mitchell said. “The Constitution allows the state to protect fetal life in this manner, so long as its regulations do not impose an ‘undue burden’ on abortion patients.”

The state hasn’t called any witnesses yet.

“I believe that both of these provisions will harm women – – harm Texas women,” Paul Fine, a Houston doctor who performs the procedures, testified yesterday as Planned Parenthood’s first witness. The rules are “absolutely not” necessary, he said.

He also said restrictions on drug-induced abortions might deprive many women of an alternative to the surgical procedure. For some women who may be at greater risk of complications than others from that surgery, medicine abortions are a reliably safe alternative, Fine said.

‘Three Decades’

“It’s turning the clock back three decades,” the doctor said.

He told the court many Texas hospitals, including those affiliated with religious organizations, will probably refuse to grant privileges to doctors associated with abortion clinics.

Deputy Attorney General John Scott asked Fine during cross-examination if he knew the state had a law barring hospitals and other medical facilities from discriminating against doctors who perform abortions.

Fine said he wasn’t aware of the law.

Potter, the University of Texas professor, identified himself as the lead investigator for the school’s Texas Policy Evaluation Project and said he’d helped compile the study upon which Planned Parenthood based its claim that 22,000 women will lose abortion access under the new law.

Potter also said he supports abortion rights.

During cross-examination by Scott, Potter was unable to answer some questions including the names of at least two Bexar County clinics that would likely close as a result of the new requirements.

Potter said much of the information in the study was gathered by other researchers. His testimony continues today.

“The abortion issue is a big issue in this country,” Yeakel said in opening comments yesterday. “It’s a divisive issue.”

“At the end of the day, these issues” are likely to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans and the U.S. Supreme Court, Yeakel said. He said he “would be shocked” if the losing parties don’t appeal his decision.

The case is Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Surgical Health Services v. Abbott, 13-cv-00862, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas (Austin).

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in federal court in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net; David Montgomery in federal court in Austin, Texas, at daveyjoe2005@yahoo.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

Roman on Wed, 23rd Oct 2013 2:20 am 



I’m sure its very accurate, but it’s not precise enough. I need more preciscion. The world population at exactly 15:04.0000000000000000 UTC was exactly 7,119,370,068.87603876598040197457923984036993287809347198734938274982735987986 peeps/sheeps

BillT on Wed, 23rd Oct 2013 2:25 am 



That is a ‘best guess’ as how many were killed by US drones since the last tick? Starvation? Suicide? Auto accidents? Heart failure? (That one alone takes one every minute in the US alone.

This is no better than the one about how much oil is recoverable. Best guess…

Roman on Wed, 23rd Oct 2013 3:52 am 



I’m sure these psychic/experts/prophets know how to count their sheep… Don’t question them or they’ll erase/replace you out of existence with a drone. You are just a number. They have their finger on the del key.

rollin on Wed, 23rd Oct 2013 11:24 am 



That means there is less than .01 km2 land surface per person available to actually use. I subtracted out farm and ranchland.

Of course if lakes, rivers,swampland, public lands, mining, industry, commercial use, other development, steep mountainsides, deserts, Antarctica, tundra lands and other fairly uninhabitable areas are subtracted, you might end up with less than one acre per person.
It really is getting crowded out here.
Thank goodness that a lot of the population live in cities, all piled on top of each other in giant swarms.

It’s getting really tough to get away from it all.

BillT on Wed, 23rd Oct 2013 11:38 am 



rollin, in the US that is true. But here in the Philippines, we have a farm that is 30 air miles from Manila but 4+ hours by vehicle on the highways. The road ends in the little town nearby so there is no through traffic, only those with family or business in the town. Total population within 10 miles of the farm may be 10,000 people, most in the town and most self supporting. We are 5 miles from the Pacific, and at an altitude of 270 feet. Down the hill is a river that flows from a mountain range and no cities or even large towns to pollute it. No industry. No noise. No air pollution. No stress. One neighbor we cannot see from the farm who is very nice but does not have electric or any ‘conveniences’. I could go on and on, but…

Yes, I still live in Manila, but on the 27th floor of a soon to be obsolete condo tower. Rent, not own. Oh, and the rent is about half what I paid in the suburbs of Philly for a place not half as nice. Best decision I made in my 69 years was to leave the Empire.

Kenz300 on Wed, 23rd Oct 2013 8:07 pm 



The ever growing world population is the worlds greatest environmental problem….. It makes every other problem harder to solve.