John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:
Rep. Senfronia Thompson listens to questions with other representatives regarding her proposed amendment to allow abortion as late as twenty-four weeks in cases of incest and rape as the House of Representatives meet to vote on legislation restricting abortion rights in Austin, Texas on July 9, 2013. (Photo by Mike Stone/Reuters)
Texas lawmakers are now one vote away from sending a controversial abortion bill to the desk of Governor Rick Perry.The Texas House voted 98-49 to pass House Bill 2, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, require abortions be performed in ambulatory surgical centers, require doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of the facility, and require doctors to administer abortion-inducing drugs in person—rather than allow a woman to take it at home.
State representatives met all day Tuesday to debate the bill as onlookers clad in blue, in support of HB2, and in orange, in opposition of the bill, flooded the gallery to watch the procedure.
After hours of back-and-forth discussions over 26 amendments, a final vote occurred shortly after 9:30 p.m. CDT.
A House committee approved HB2 last Wednesday after hours of public testimony.
The abortion bill gained a second life after Perry announced a second special session at the end of June to vote on the issue. The bill failed to gain enough votes during the Texas legislature’s regular session (which required a two-thirds majority), and it also failed in the last special session after an epic filibuster in the Senate by State Sen. Wendy Davis, which brought national attention to the measure.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where a vote is expected Wednesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment