AUSTIN, Texas _ A sweeping anti-abortion bill is headed to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's desk after the Senate approved changes made by House lawmakers last week.
Sen. Charles Schwertner, the bill's author, said the bill addresses concerns "expressed by thousands of Texans and will ensure the dignity and protection for the unborn child."
The bill started as a two-pronged proposal: It would require fetal tissue from abortions or miscarriages to be buried or cremated and would prohibit "partial-birth" abortions. But some House members, frustrated by what they see as a lack of enthusiasm from leaders in the chamber to pass anti-abortion bills, used the measure as a way to revive legislation that had been left for dead.
The new additions _ including a ban on "dismemberment" abortions _ turned the bill into a wide-ranging anti-abortion measure that addresses priorities of both Texas Right to Life and Texas Alliance for Life, two anti-abortion advocacy groups that tend to butt heads.
After the Senate voted 22-9 to accept the House's amendments, the Center for Reproductive Rights sent a letter to Abbott, urging the Republican governor to veto the legislation.
"Texas women deserve access to the health care that is best for them and their personal circumstances_not abortion restrictions pushed by extreme anti-abortion organizations," said Amanda Allen, state legislative counsel for the organization in a prepared statement. "The Center for Reproductive Rights vows to battle any unconstitutional measures in the courts until the rights of Texas women are respected and protected."
The bill bans two procedures that anti-abortion advocates call "dismemberment" and "partial-birth" abortions.
Prohibiting "partial-birth" abortions is a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. It refers to a late-term procedure prohibited by federal law. Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, said it's necessary to enact a statewide ban so authorities can enforce it.
Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, added an amendment to the measure that would ban "dismemberment" abortions, a non-medical term that providers worry could include dilation and evacuation, a standard late-term procedure.
Debate on Klick's amendment turned emotional, as amendments from Democrats to create exceptions to the ban _ including in cases of rape or incest _ failed.
Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, openly wept as she urged her colleagues to vote against the amendment, highlighting her experiences as a mother and grandmother.
"Unfortunately, women are sometimes in a position where they become pregnant and that pregnancy is not something that they choose," Howard said. "Changing the law to make it illegal will not stop abortions from happening. All it will do is make it less safe."
Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said the bill was "just one more way of some people in the state trying to restrict abortion," while Democrat Sen. Jose Rodriguez warned that the legislation could open the state up to litigation.
"If this passes, there's no question in my mind we're going to be sued again," he said Friday.
The bill also includes rules the state adopted last year that would require tissue from abortions and miscarriages to be buried or cremated, barring abortion facilities from using standard methods of disposition.
In February, a federal judge blocked the state from enforcing the rules, writing that they "likely are unconstitutionally vague and impose an undue burden on the right to an abortion." Texas has since appealed the judge's temporary block.
Rep. Cindy Burkett, the bill's sponsor in the House, said the legislation was intended to "honor and give universal respect" to fetal tissue.
"Earlier this year, a federal court blocked the implementation of Gov. (Greg) Abbott's cruel fetal and embryonic tissue burial rule, acknowledging these restrictions do nothing to promote public health," Lucy Stein, spokeswoman for the Trust.Respect.Access Coalition, said in a prepared statement. "And yet, Texas anti-abortion lawmakers prioritized passing SB 8 instead of addressing the state's maternal mortality crisis."
Lawmakers did kill an amendment from Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, that would have removed an exemption in state law that lets women get an abortion after 20 weeks if their fetuses have severe abnormalities.
Corsicana Rep. Byron Cook, a staunch anti-abortion advocate, rose to tell members to vote against the amendment.
"Everything is not black and white. It's not cut and dry," Cook said. "The human condition sometimes is heartbreaking. ... Who am I, who are we to play God in that circumstance?"
