joining me now is leticia van de putte. thank you for being here. you very much. >> and a lot of people first got to know you as part of a two-woman, i guess you could say, ultimate protest inside of the state legislature over your state attempting to make it much more difficult for women to get health care, to get abortions. you were part of that protest. and that is a lot of the way you came to national prominence. tell us in the state of texas right now, what is the state of a woman's access to abortion at this moment? >> well, what we know is that because of the laws that were passed, we're seeing clinics close that offer women's health care. most of these clinics never even offered any abortion counseling or services, but what they did do was offer women the ability to get your yearly pap examine or mammogram or a well-woman check. yes, there have been access cut to women who are seeking abortions, particularly in areas of south texas and in west texas. we know that the laws will go into effect this september that will require those that provid

it's also the case that this year the democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, leticia van de putter in the community. that brings up the second thing that could conceivably give democrats a shot this year in texas. he is the republican candidate for lieutenant governor in texas, his name is dan patrick. he's a right wing talk radio host thought to be so out there even for texas that he might have a voter-repellent effect on the whole republican ticket the way people thought sarah palin did for the republican ticket in 2008. there's the latino voters and that potential. that's one issue. there's dan patrick as potential kryptonite on the ballot. that's a second issue. the third issue that could give democrats a shot is this new issue that just emerged when greg abbott decided a year after that fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people next to a texas middle school that the law should be changed in texas to stop disclosing the storage location of dangerous chemicals in texas neighborhoods. that's the third issue. that's the new one. but then there's also this new crisis on the bord