Texas Senate approves ban on most abortions
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate approved six anti-abortion bills Tuesday, including a proposal that would outlaw the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically before a woman is aware she is pregnant, and another that effectively bans the procedure all together.
The second measure would become law if the Supreme Court reverses earlier decisions legalizing abortion. Abortion opponents have pledged to push an aggressive agenda to severely limit availability of the procedure, with an eye to the changing power dynamics at the U.S. Supreme Court. Conservatives now hold a 6-3 majority on the court.
“As we debate this, we start in different places,” said state Sen. Angela Paxton, a Republican from McKinney and the author of the proposal to outlaw abortion. “The life of the mother is incredibly important, as is the life of the unborn child. It’s a difficult situation. It’s a difficult situation for the woman to be in, it’s a difficult situation for ... a child who is at the most vulnerable time in their existence and has no ability to protect themselves.”
The chamber voted 1912 to pass five of the bills up for consideration, a vote almost along party lines. One bill passed by a vote of 20-11, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., a Brownsville Democrat, spoke in favor of each proposal.
The measures now head to the House for consideration. They are among the first bills debated and passed through the Senate and two are top priorities for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Republican leader who presides over the chamber.
Dyana Limon-Mercado, executive director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, said this kind of “extreme political agenda is not what Texans need or want right now.”
“Texans are still recovering from a deadly natural disaster in the middle of a pandemic while Dan Patrick and some in the legislature are wasting time trying to ban abortion, further jeopardizing people’s well-being,” she said in a statement.
Senate Bill 8 would ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which typically happens around six weeks into a pregnancy. Texas law currently bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy — or up to 22 weeks from the last menstrual period.
Democrats pushed state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican, to defend the constitutionality of his proposal, arguing that the bill would effectively ban all abortion procedures, as a fetal heartbeat can be present before a woman knows she is pregnant.
“Effectively, you’re telling women who right now have a constitutional right to an abortion that in the event you might need one, you can’t have one,” said state Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas Democrat.
Hughes said that the intent of his bill is to protect “a little baby that can feel pain” and he said he believes that it will be upheld by the courts.
“What we’re saying is that when there is a heartbeat present, the state of Texas is saying that’s a human being deserving of protection,” he said.
The bill would also allow for any private citizen to sue an abortion provider who violates the law or who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” including footing the bill for the procedure, regardless of whether the citizen behind the lawsuit is connected to the person receiving the procedure or to the provider.