Oops!
April 25th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Due to a technical blunder, two anti-abortion bills died despite overwhelming support in the House State Affairs Committee. House Bill 175, a trigger ban on abortion in Texas should Roe v. Wade be overturned, and House Bill 1750, an abortion and judicial bypass reporting bill, had the support of seven of the 9-member committee and were expected to pass. They only received a vote of 4-to-2, just one short of the five needed to pass them out of committee.
The 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 recorded as present in the roll call, Swinford says.
“It was my fault,” Swinford says. “It was unintentional.” The bills can only be reconsidered at the request of one of the opposing votes, who have decided not to do so, he says.
The bills could prevail through their identical versions in the Senate. Plano Republican Sen. Florence Shapiro’s abortion and judicial bypass reporting bill is expected to be considered on the Senate floor today. An abortion trigger ban by Houston Republican Dan Patrick (R-Houston) has not yet been heard in committee.
Another abortion bill by Patrick passed out of the Health and Human Services Committee yesterday, with a few hastily-written amendments proposed by committee members. The original bill would have required women considering an abortion to view an ultrasound. With the amendments, the bill requires abortion providers to perform an ultrasound, explain it to the patient, and give her the opportunity to see it, though she may choose not to. Only Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) voted against the bill.
“One a practical level, this bill really just states what is already practiced,” says Sarah Wheat, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region. Ultrasounds are a part of appropriate abortion care, and some women choose to see the sonogram while some do not, she says.
Staunchly pro-life Patrick has proposed other bills to discourage women from getting an abortion, like his so-called adoption incentive bill, by which Texas would pay women considering abortion $500 to choose adoption.
“These bills don’t prevent one unintended pregnancy,” Wheat says.
May 2nd, 2007 at 2:23 pm
[…] Republican Rep. Geanie Morrison’s abortion and judicial bypass reporting bill, which accidentally died in committee two weeks ago, got its second chance last week. Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) […]