Pro-life Bills to Watch | 87th Texas Legislature
Pro-Life Bills to Watch
January 12, 2021, marked the opening of the 87th Texas Legislature. Even in midst of COVID, our state legislators are hard at work and have either filed or cosponsored a number of pro-life bills!
Our sister organization, Texans for Life Committee, has identified several of these bills as a priority.
An abortion ban that works.
4/5 Update: SB 9 was passed out of the Senate last week by a vote of 19-12. HB 1280 will be heard by the House Public Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Stephanie Klick, on Wednesday, April 7th.
Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (HB 1280) and Sen. Angela Paxton (SB 9) have filed the Human Life Protection Act with the goal of enacting a complete ban on abortion that coordinates with SCOTUS decisions as a means of saving the most babies in the most efficient manner. If passed, the legislature wouldn’t even have to be in session, or reconvened if it were a non-legislative year, to implement new life-saving laws should SCOTUS rule favorably on pro-life challenges. The HLPA gives us the Heartbeat ban and much more.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick signaled his support for the bill when he gave the bill a low number, which is great news for moms and babies!
Ten states have already passed similar legislation. Passage of HLPA also reaffirms the Texas legislature's intent to end abortion. While the state's original law banning abortion has never been repealed, some, including a federal judge, have suggested that because Texas has regulated abortion, our original ban has been repealed by implication, which is not the case!
HLPA was passed out of the Senate State Affairs committee on Tuesday, March 16, and HB 1280, the companion bill, has been referred to the House Public Health committee, where it is waiting for a hearing to be scheduled.
Chemical abortions account for half of all
abortions in the United States.
4/5 Update: SB 394 was passed out of the Senate last week by a vote of 19-12. HB 2337 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Public Health Committee on Wednesday, April 7th.Rep. Stephanie Klick filed HB 2337, a companion bill to Sen. Eddie Lucio's SB 394. The house bill codifies in Texas statute the current FDA prescribing rules on chemical abortion to carefully evaluate and mitigate potential risk to women.
Current law is inadequate to protect women should abortion advocates in their efforts to persuade the Biden Administration pressure the FDA to drop protocols that safeguard the health and welfare of women.
This legislation is critical to provide safeguards for women and young girls who will be targeted by an unscrupulous abortion industry and to keep out-of-state abortion doctors from circumventing Texas law requiring informed consent, parental consent, sonograms--even the 20-week ban!
It establishes physician requirements before giving, administering, providing, or prescribing chemical abortion drugs.
It also maintains in-person exams to confirm pregnancy and gestational age and reestablishes the 49 days gestational limit for chemical abortion-inducing drugs - the FDA standard, the basis for original Texas safety regulations.
SB 394 was passed out of the Senate State Affairs committee on Tuesday, March 16, and its companion, HB 2337 has been referred to the House Public Health Committee, where it is waiting for a hearing to be scheduled.
4/5 Update: SB 573 has been referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee. HB 1291 has beenreferred to the House Public Health Committee.
Existing Federal (1973) and State (1977, 1999) law prohibits health care workers from being required to participate in performing abortions, something many health care workers do not know.
These long-standing legal protections
offer little value without awareness!
The Conscience Protection Bill, filed by Rep. Keith Bell (HB 1291) and Sen. Drew Springer (SB 573), requires a hospital or healthcare facility to provide written notice of an individual's legal right to refuse to perform or participate in an abortion procedure. It also prohibits hospitals or healthcare facilities from discriminating against the individual for refusing to perform or participate in an abortion procedure, allowing the individual potential remedies for a violation.
The protection provided by this bill is especially critical for younger, newer doctors and nurses, as well as medical and nursing students, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of pro-abortion superiors.
HB 1291 has been referred to the Public Health Committee in the House, and SB 573 has been referred to Senate State Affairs committee. Both bills await a hearing.
4/5 Update: SB 650 passed out of the Senate last week by a vote of 19-12. HB 1173 is scheduled for a hearing in the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday, April 8th.SB 650, filed by Sen. Donna Campbell, is a fix to SB 22 (86th), banning the local government from contracting with abortion providers. It bans local governments from funding ancillary abortion services such as associated travel, childcare, etc.
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