HOW TEXAS VOTED
WASHINGTON — How the Texas congressional delegation voted on major issues last week:
Senate
1. Protecting infants in
failed abortions: Failed, 56-41, to reach 60 votes needed to advance a GOPdrafted bill (S 311) that would prescribe rules of care for infants who survive failed late-term abortions. Healthcare providers including doctors could face up to five years in prison if they failed to immediately ensure the hospitalization of an infant showing signs of life after an attempted abortion.
A yes vote was to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster and advance the bill.
2. Imposing stricter
abortion limits: Failed, 53-44, to reach 60 votes needed to advance a GOPdrafted bill (S 3275) that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of fertilization on grounds that the fetus can feel pain by then. The bill repudiates the Roe v. Wade standard that abortion is legal up to when the fetus reaches viability — usually after 24-to-28 weeks of pregnancy — and after viability if the procedure is necessary to protect the health or life of the mother. Under Roe, viability occurs when the fetus can potentially survive outside the womb with or without artificial aid. Rape victims must receive counseling and medical care at least 48 hours before the procedure could be exempted. Doctors who violate the law could be criminally prosecuted.
A yes vote was to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster and advance the bill.
House
1. Designating lynching
a hate crime: Passed, 410-4, a bill (HR 35) that would designate lynching a federal hate crime. The bill is named in honor of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after having been falsely accused of signaling advances on a white woman. Although lynching can be prosecuted under federal laws including civil rights statutes, this marks its first specific designation as a federal crime. The bill would add lynching to a 1968 hate-crimes law that already covers — and requires increased penalties for — offenses based on the victim’s perceived or actual gender, race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation. The members voting against the bill were Republicans Louie Gohmert of Texas, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ted Yoho of Florida and independent Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
2. Outlawing flavored tobacco products :
Passed, 213-195, a bill (HR 2339) that would prohibit the manufacture and sale of flavored tobacco products including e-cigarettes and traditional menthol cigarettes; impose an excise tax on the sale of products such as e-cigarettes and vaping devices that deliver nicotine in liquid form; outlaw the marketing, advertising and online sales of e-cigarettes and vaping products to individuals under 21; require the Government Accountability Office to study the impact of liquid-nicotine products on public health; and fund stop-smoking demonstration programs in poor communities. In addition, the bill would require the
Food and Drug Administration to start regulating products containing synthetic nicotine and require color coding to heighten the impact to warnings on cigarette packages.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
3. Adding abortion provision to tobacco b ill:
Defeated, 187-220, a Republican measure that sought to add abortion-related language to a pending bill (HR 2339, above) that would outlaw the sale and manufacture of flavored tobacco products.
A yes vote was to add abortion language to the tobacco bill. Y = Yea, N = Nay, A = Not voting, P = Answered “Present”