Pro-choice supporters are working to rally againstnew restrictions and consent measures that the Texas Senate passed recently that would reduce the number of abortions performed in the state.
According to TheHill.com, two new measures were passed. One would require doctors who are performing the abortions to report any complications to the state health commission. The second measure would require doctors to report information about minors who obtain abortions.
The Texas bills now head to the state House.
Anti-abortion advocates, however, say the legislation is just a way to reduce the number of procedures. Hundreds protested outside the Texas Capitol last week as the measures passed through the Senate.
“This year’s series of sessions have been very sure and steady for the pro-life movement, bolstered by state leadership changes in some states. Some states now have a pathway to do more pro-life activities,” said Sue Swayze, director of the National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus.
Texas isn’t the only state considering this type of legislation. In Missouri, state representatives approved a measure last week that would require doctors to detail medical complications to women three days before their abortion. The bill also allows the attorney general to prosecute violation of the state’s abortion laws.
Texas already bans an abortion procedure conducted in the second trimester, known as dilation and evacuation.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has promised he will appoint pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Pro-life supporters are hopeful this means that Roe v. Wade will then be overturned.
“We’d like to see a life at conception bill, a heartbeat bill, something to challenge Roe v. Wade,” Bob Vander Plaats, a leading abortion opponent in Iowa, told The Hill.
Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/Stevanovicigor
Publication date: July 31, 2017
