Deny Everything
May 18th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Speaker Tom Craddick adjourned the House today without laying out the postponed anti-abortion bills, the pet projects of the pro-life movement this session.
Before adjournment, Rep. David Swinford, chairman of the House State Affairs committee, defended his committee from the front microphone. He denied yesterday’s allegations by Rep. Jim Dunnam that the sudden appearance of the abortion bills on the calendar was a political move to reward the pro-life community’s support of Craddick in the speaker’s race.
Swinford wrote in a press release: “I want to reiterate that the sequence of events that took place regarding SB 785 were entirely routine and that the timing of such legislation to be placed on the calendar was not related in any way to outside influences.”
Like Craddick, he said he did not see the Texas Alliance for Life email that appears to have been sent to the entire House.
Tuesday is the deadline for the House to pass Senate bills, so if the bills’ opponents have valid points of order, the legislation could be killed on Monday. Craddick seems caught between the demands of his pro-life base of support, members who don’t want to have to vote on this contraversial legislation, and rumblings of a speaker overthrow.
Behind the politics and deal-making lies the real issue: these two bills are part of the pro-life movement’s attempt to chip away at a woman’s access to abortion. The legislation allows government to intrude on a personal, medical decision that a woman makes with her doctor.
