‘Preborn Pain Act’ has yet to be filed

Abortion

eola, a leading abortion opponent in the Legislature who is campaigning to replace Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as leader of the House.

“I think the people back home are sending a message by continuing to send strong pro-life majorities to the Legislature, and that’s what emboldens us,” Hughes said.

The basic right to an abortion, set out in a 1973 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, still stands, leaving opponents to chip away at the legal edges in hopes of limiting access to the procedure.

During the 2011 legislative session, much of that work was focused on a bill requiring women to receive a sonogram and listen to a doctor describe what it reveals about the fetus at least 24 hours before an abortion. Supporters, including Gov. Rick Perry, said they hoped the requirement would prompt women to reconsider the procedure.

Abortion opponents also cut millions of dollars in state funding for Planned Parenthood, largely by cutting family planning programs by two-thirds and by reinforcing a move to exclude the organization from the Women’s Health Program, which provides health and contraceptive care to low-income women. Legislators also approved a “Choose Life” specialty license plate, with proceeds to go toward adoption programs.

The sonogram and license plate bills passed after multiple failed attempts in previous sessions, while the Women’s Health Program exclusion