Gov. Rick Perry says the Texas Legislature’s proposal to ban texting while driving is an attempt to “micromanage the behavior of adults.”

He has vetoed earlier legislation seeking to end the practice. He’ll do so again if the Legislature approves House Bill 63 and Senate Bill 28. I will add here that the legislation has drawn bipartisan support in the House and the Senate. And if Perry were to veto such a bill, there could be enough votes in the Legislature to override the veto, according to the Texas Tribune.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/04/17/texting-while-driving-ban-hit-house-floor/

Perry’s effort to protect individual rights is an interesting tactic in this regard: The governor, along with other conservatives, are fond of saying that government shouldn’t intrude where it’s not needed – yet they have no difficulty intruding on such things as, say, private sexual conduct or whether a woman should be able to choose to end a pregnancy.

I happen to favor the statewide ban on texting while driving, understanding fully the difficulty the police will have in enforcing it. I would hope the state would impose severe penalties on those caught in the act and even more severe penalties if that activity results in a collision.

But this notion that a texting ban “micromanages” behavior intrigues me.

For many years the state banned homosexual activity. The state actually had the power to burst into someone’s bedroom and arrest anyone engaging in a homosexual act, such as sodomy. The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling on a Texas case, declared in 2003 that the law is unconstitutional. But the Legislature has yet to overturn that statute. Isn’t that micromanagement, governor?

As for abortion, the state is seeking to make that heart-wrenching decision more difficult for women, even though it remains legal under the law. Gov. Perry has no difficulty micromanaging a woman’s conscience.

So, Gov. Perry, where do we draw the line on micromanagement?