Anti-Abortion Bills on the Move
April 18th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
House State Affairs voted out of committee two abortion-related bills today - a trigger law that would automatically ban abortions in Texas if Roe v. Wade were overturned, and an abortion and judicial bypass reporting bill that would require excessive reporting from doctors who perform abortions, and could lead to the outting of judges who rule in sensitive and confidential judicial bypass cases.
Committee chairman Rep. David Swinford (R-Dumas) did not call for a vote on several other abortion-related bills that were heard with these two bills in the beginning of April, some of which would have eased the obstacles placed in front of women facing unintended pregnancies.
They are:
House Bill 1760 by Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston): Doctors would no longer have to inform abortion patients of a mythical correlation between breast cancer and abortions.
House Bill 3077 by Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio): If a minor seeking an abortion is being raised by an adult other than her parents, that adult would be allowed to give parental consent. Currently, minors in that situation have to obtain permission from a judge. Houston lawyer Rita Lucido, who handles judicial bypass cases, says that 125,000 Texas teenagers live with an adult other than their parents. This bill would allow the adult who cares for the minor to be a part of this important decision, rather than requiring the minor to go through the judicial process.
House Bills 301 and 306 by Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston): A woman seeking an abortion because of a fetal abnormality or a woman who is the victim of incest or sexual assault would not have to go through the required 24-hour waiting period or informed consent process to get an abortion. The process is “cruel and unnecessary” for women in these situations, Farrar said in the hearing.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:34 am
[…] committee’s chairman Rep. David Swinford (R-Dumas) called the vote in an April 18th meeting on the House floor upon adjournment. Though he saw seven members present, only six had in fact been […]