It’s Alive
May 2nd, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Victoria 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) folded Morrison’s bill into his House Bill 1131, a bill that originally required physicians to report seeing patients with complications due to abortions. The bill passed out of committee last week.
“Philosophically, Geanie and I on this issue are very agreeable,” Zedler said today.
HB 1131 now requires abortion patients to provide a laundry list of intrusive and unnecessary information, like the age of the father, how the procedure was paid for, and the source of referral for the abortion. The patient has the option of stating the reason for the abortion. Opponents say the bill is yet another effort to hinder a woman’s access to abortion. Physicians, insurance companies and places that refer women to abortion providers could all be targeted.
The bill also requires that rulings on judicial bypass cases be reported by county. In judicial bypass cases, a minor can bypass the parental consent law if a judge agrees that telling a parent of a decision to have an abortion may lead to abuse or abandonment. Opponents of the bill worry that disclosing rulings on such cases by county could make judges targets in election campaigns, or worse. Of Texas’ 254 counties, 45 percent have only one judge, and 70 percent have either one or two.
“I think this idea that somehow everybody’s going to know who it was if it’s by county- I think that argument is fallacious,” Zedler said, and then, letting his mask slip, he continued: “I think it’s very important that people know how judges are ruling on this issue.”
The Senate version of the bill, which passed out of the Senate last week, requires judicial bypass reporting by state rather than county, avoiding the whole outing of judges issues. That bill now awaits consideration in the House State Affairs committee.
