Texas Abortion Bill Passed 97-33

Republicans in the Texas House have passed one of the nation’s toughest packages of abortion restrictions, according to Huffington Post.

“The proposed bill would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, require doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and limit abortions to surgical centers.”

Salon.com reported:

“‘If this passes, abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas, and many women could be forced to resort to dangerous and unsafe measures,’ Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement.”

They continued on to say that hundreds of protesters filled the capitol building on Sunday to voice their opposition to the measure, “while House Democrats tried to delay the vote by drawing out the debate and adding amendments to alter the bill.”

Supports of the bill claim that this new bill would improves women’s health care, while opponents of the bill are saying it would shut down 37 out of the 42 abortion clinics in the state.

Salon.com reported:

“One such amendment would have called for an exemption to the ban in cases of rape and incest; state Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, felt such an exception was unnecessary because ‘in the emergency room they have what’s called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out,’ she said, incorrectly comparing the procedure to collect physical evidence after a sexual assault to an abortion.”

As of now, the bill must sit for 24 hours, and then the Senate will need to vote, according to Huffington Post.

Senate Democrats say they will try to stage a filibuster until the special legislative session ends at midnight Tuesday night, in hopes that it will stop the bill from reaching Governor Rick Perry’s desk.

As of this morning the bill has passed 97-33.

Abortion has been a hot topic in Texas, with claims of a “masturbating fetus” by Republican Congressman last week being used as proof that abortion need to be banned.

Across the nation, Planned Parenthood has been also been a major topic of discussion, considering different areas have been looking to defund it, including Indiana and Pennsylvania.

If this bill gets passed into law in Texas it would shut down 37 out of the 42 abortion clinics in the state, and abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas.

[Image via Huffington Post]