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Abortion/adoption
May 1, 2009
Final Senate passage for ultrasound bill
A bill that would require women to be offered an ultrasound test before they could get an abortion received final approval in the Texas Senate this morning, as Texas’ Planned Parenthood affiliates blasted the measure as “a setback for public health.”
The vote on Senate Bill 182 was 20-10, after a brief debate over whether a state guide given to pregnant women includes erroneous information that links abortions to breast cancer.
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said the information is wrong, that studies have proven there is no link. “This was put in there to scare women,” Shapleigh said.
But Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, the bill’s author, and Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, said the wording should be left alone. “(Shapleigh’s) trying to go back and re-debate a vote he lost six years ago,” Williams said.
The Senate then killed Shapleigh’s proposed change 19-11, the passed the bill. The proposal now goes to the House for consideration.
Patrick insisted the bill had been scaled back, as some senators had suggested. “I don’t see this … I see it as a better bill,” he said.
Concerning the Senate’s action, Texas Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates released the following statement:
“(The) vote requiring mandatory ultrasound for every woman seeking a safe, legal abortion is a setback for public health. Planned Parenthood supports women receiving medical information they need so they can make private health care decisions. Planned Parenthood currently provides ultrasounds and the option to view the ultrasound image to clients seeking abortion. We oppose politicians telling doctors how to practice medicine and interfering directly in how health care is provided.
“This bill is about politics, not good public policy. With no exception for victims of rape, incest or cases of tragic fetal anomalies, the bill seeks to shame women and make a difficult decision even more so.
“Most Texans are concerned about their job security, healthcare and their children’s education. We hope the House will choose to focus on important issues that Texans care about rather than playing politics with women’s health. If the House does take up this bill, we hope they will reject this bad legislation.”
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April 21, 2009
Senate panel OKs 'choose life' license plates
The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services this morning approved creating a license plate that says “choose life.”
The anti-abortion measure, backed by Gov. Rick Perry, passed on a vote of 6-1. It now goes to the full Senate. There is a similar measure in the House.
Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, the author of the bill, said the goal of the license plates is to raise awareness about adoption. Carona, who is an adoptive father, said 19 states have such license plates.
The measure, if it passes, would let Texans buy a license plate that would benefit groups that provide counseling and other services to pregnant women considering placing their child with adoptive parents. Typically, specialty plates cost $30; of that, $22 goes to the designated cause.
Travis Floores, 15, a student at McNeil High School, urged senators to support the measure. Floores, who is adopted, said during public testimony that if his birth mother hadn’t chosen adoption, “I might not be here today.”
“There’s kids all over Texas that are just like me that deserve a place to go,” Floores said.
But Blake Rocap of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, told senators he was opposed to the bill because of the lack of regulation of entities that would receive the money.
“It would be easier to support this bill if the funds were going to licensed maternity homes or other medical providers that were under state license and regulations,” Rocap told senators.
Texas has about 200 specialty license plates, including some supporting universities, Girl Scouts and the March of Dimes. The Texas Department of Transportation can require legislative approval if the plates would be controversial.
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April 8, 2009
"Choose life" license plate to find another vehicle
Sen. John Carona, author of SB 2500, the “Choose Life” license plate bill, said he’ll be moving that provision out of the bill and to some other unnamed legislative vehicle.
Carona, chair of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Committee, heard the bill in his committee this morning. Senators heard mostly from anti-abortion and pro-adoption advocates — supporters of having a state-sponsored “Choose Life” specialty license plate — but also from a handful of opponents.
But Carona said that SB 2500 will end up as an omnibus bill that will be home to a number of other suggested specialty plates, including one honoring the Buffalo Soldiers and, oddly, the French Legion. Knowing that he didn’t have the votes on his committee, and wishing to retain the committee’s always cooperative spirit, Carona said he’ll remove the “Choose life” license plate from it.
“I happen to be pro-life,” Carona said, adding that he is an adoptive father. The bill would direct fees from the license plates to agencies that help people adopt children. “But there are not sufficient votes (on the committee) to move the legislation with the “choose life” language….I might pursue it in other legislation.”
According to testimony today, 19 states have “choose life” license plates on the road, and Florida has seen about $5 million in revenue from selling them.
Carona styled the legislation as a pro-adoption bill, not a pro-life bill. But when other lawmakers suggested that the language could say something on the order of “Choose adoption” instead, there was little enthusiasm for the idea.
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