Texas Republicans on verge of passing abortion law

[Nbadan]

Source: Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The Republican-dominated Texas Legislature pushed Monday to enact wide-ranging restrictions that would effectively shut down all abortion clinics in the nation's second most-populous state, and Democrats planned an old-fashioned marathon filibuster to stop the final vote.

After the House easily approved it Monday morning, the wide-ranging package of anti-abortion measures was headed to the Senate. But with the special session scheduled to end at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, the clock presented a far bigger obstacle than the votes to win approval there.

Although Texas is just the latest of several conservative states to try to enact tough limits on abortions, the scope of its effort is notable both because of the combination of bills being considered and the size of the state. The proposal would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, require doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, limit abortions to surgical centers and stipulate doctors must monitor even non-surgical abortions.

When combined in a state 773 miles wide and 790 miles long and with 26 million people, the measures become the most stringent set of laws to impact the largest number of people in the nation.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-republic...193230470.html


The article says a filibustering Democrat must be able to stand there continuously (no potty break allowed, can't even lean on anything) for 13 1/2 hours (unless the Republicans move the vote up even earlier which would extend the required filibustering time).

This is some sick anti-woman right wing ....

[Nbadan]

POLL: Majority Of Texans Don’t Support The Abortion Restrictions Moving Through The Legislature

Most Texas residents don’t support Senate Bill 5, the omnibus anti-abortion bill currently advancing in the legislature, according to a new bipartisan poll. In fact, 80 percent of Texans don’t want their lawmakers to be considering abortion-related bills during the special session that Gov. Rick Perry (R) convened at the beginning of the month.

SB 5 combines several attacks on women’s reproductive into one omnibus measure. It would impose unnecessary burdens on abortion providers, force most of the abortion clinics in the state to close their doors, and criminalize abortions after 20 weeks (although one Senate version of the legislation removed the 20-week ban). Anti-choice lawmakers hope that the special session will give them the opportunity to push through SB 5, since its separate provisions failed to advance during the regular legislative session this year.

But Texas voters don’t actually want any more restrictions on abortion in their state. After conducting a survey among a representative sample of state residents between June 17 and 19, the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR) found that 63 percent of registered voters think the Lone Star State already has enough anti-abortion laws on the books. Seventy one percent think the legislature should be more focused on the economy and jobs instead of social policies to police women’s reproductive rights.

Nearly three quarters of respondents said that personal medical decisions about whether to have an abortion should be made by a woman and her doctor, not by politicians. Fifty seven percent said they don’t trust the Governor or the legislature to make choices about women’s health care. And that opposition cuts across party lines: The support for women to make their own reproductive decisions remains strong among both Independents (76 percent) and Republicans (61 percent).

-snip-

Full article here: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013...s-oppose-sb-5/

[Jacob1983]

I say keep it legal in the first trimester. After that, a woman should only be allowed to abort if her health is at risk.

[Nbadan]

The GOP has shifted the debate...they know they can't flat out restrict a women's right to an abortion on demand....so they do what they do best...restrict access to clinics..restrict doctors...or make the procedure so invasive.....rape by state if you will.....to make the procedure 'inconvenient' for women...then these women have babies and run up state programs...it makes no sense...

[Jacob1983]

Legal in the first trimester. After that, tough . If the mother's life is at risk, then that's an exception and it should be legal.

[Rogue]

Legal in the first trimester. After that, tough . If the mother's life is at risk, then that's an exception and it should be legal.

or if it put the man's finance at risk, it should be legal too. Not every youngster is so smart as we are, that can remain a virgin till his/her late 20s. Stupid kids get pregant and they have no business of raising their offsprings, they should also be allowed to get rid of such troubles imho. They're stupid but they deserve a 2nd chance, and it's also the fault of their parents and the government that they haven't been educated enough about sex. If abortion is prohibited only except when the 's life is at risk, but not when the "couple" are too young to afford the kid, then every will have 5-6 kids and most guys who're not smart as we are will get their dreams killed in their early 20s

[Jacob1983]

Or somehow let the man swap places with the woman and let him experience the pregnancy, lol. You would definitely shut feminists up if men experienced pregnancies as women.

[CosmicCowboy]

I don't agree with everything in the bill but the 20 weeks is reasonable. 20 weeks gives them 4 1/2 months to get it done.

After that point you are talking potentially viable babies.

# 21 weeks or less: 0% survival rate

# 22 weeks: 0-10% survival rate

# 23 weeks: 10-35% survival rate

# 24 weeks: 40-70% survival rate

# 25 weeks: 50-80% survival rate

# 26 weeks: 80-90% survival rate

# 27 weeks: greater than 90% survival rate

[TeyshaBlue]

Wendy Davis is gonna filibuster that . Non-story.

[scott]

The 20-week part of the bill isn't the real issue. The big issue is the new standards it would require of all abortion clinics, which would have the effect of shutting the vast majority of them on. The bill puts new ambulatory standards on clinics, and requires physicians have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (the second part being the bigger, nearly impossible hoop to jump through). The bill also provides no exemptions for rape or incest.

Wendy Davis's filibuster has begun, but I wouldn't call it a lock to be successful. Filibuster rules are tough in the Texas Senate. Here is a primer: http://www.burntorangereport.com/dia...as-filibusters

[scott]

The House Companion to the bill made news because the House State Affairs Committee cut-off testimony because he felt it was becoming "repe ive". However, this didn't become a parliamentary problem because it's the Senate Version that went through, not the House Version.

Davis just stated she plans on reading all the testimony that was cut-off. Having reading material will help her.

[TeyshaBlue]

The 20-week part of the bill isn't the real issue. The big issue is the new standards it would require of all abortion clinics, which would have the effect of shutting the vast majority of them on. The bill puts new ambulatory standards on clinics, and requires physicians have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (the second part being the bigger, nearly impossible hoop to jump through). The bill also provides no exemptions for rape or incest.

Wendy Davis's filibuster has begun, but I wouldn't call it a lock to be successful. Filibuster rules are tough in the Texas Senate. Here is a primer: http://www.burntorangereport.com/dia...as-filibusters

She already has a decent track record with filibusters tho....I think she knows what she's doing here.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Texas is gonna turn itself into a welfare state the way every other state with strict abortion regulations is. Making it hard to get abortions is what creates the welfare babies Republicans claim to hate so much.

[scott]

She already has a decent track record with filibusters tho....I think she knows what she's doing here.

Fair point. There is talk that certain Senate members will be extra keen on calling Points of Order to end the filibuster.

Personally, I doubt the Texas GOP really wants this to pass. It was just a distraction used to ram redistricting through (hey, didn't hear much about that, did we?)

[TeyshaBlue]

Fair point. There is talk that certain Senate members will be extra keen on calling Points of Order to end the filibuster.

Personally, I doubt the Texas GOP really wants this to pass. It was just a distraction used to ram redistricting through (hey, didn't hear much about that, did we?)

Hey, your schadenfreude is showing.

[TeyshaBlue]

Texas is gonna turn itself into a welfare state the way every other state with strict abortion regulations is. Making it hard to get abortions is what creates the welfare babies Republicans claim to hate so much.

[scott]

Hey, your schadenfreude is showing.

Put in a lot of work at the Capitol this year, and I think I caught a disease making me watch/listen the Texas Tribune Live Feed instead of music.

Do you know of a cure?

[TeyshaBlue]

moar cowbell!

[scott]

3 hours to go

[scott]

Remember when Rand Paul was cherished for his filibuster that accomplished nothing?

[Th'Pusher]

You think governor good hair will call another special session to get this passed or can he say we gave it a good college try and be done with it?

[scott]

Already 2 POO's against Davis. A third and the filibuster could die.

[scott]

You think governor good hair will call another special session to get this passed or can he say we gave it a good college try and be done with it?

I personally am of the opinion that the TX GOP doesn't really want this bill. They just wanted it to distract from the other issues in this special session. The way this bill took it's time to allow this filibuster to be possible lends a little credibility to that theory. If Perry calls another special, then I'll have been proven wrong.

[Th'Pusher]

I personally am of the opinion that the TX GOP doesn't really want this bill. They just wanted it to distract from the other issues in this special session. The way this bill took it's time to allow this filibuster to be possible lends a little credibility to that theory. If Perry calls another special, then I'll have been proven wrong.

Here's to hoping you're right.

[scott]

Third POO has been raised by Donna Campbell. If Dewhurst sustains, it will mean Senate can vote to end filibuster.