Abortion Issues Dominate Debate In Texas House

AUSTIN (AP) - For some Republicans in the Texas House, it's becoming all about abortion, all the time.

With the end of the legislative session less than a week away, conservatives did their best Monday to tack obscure anti-abortion measures onto important but otherwise unrelated legislation. Liberals countered with long-winded speeches, points of order and other clumsy delaying tactics -- as well as warnings that women across Texas are being forced to turn to back-alley abortions.

Last week, the House approved a measure stripping funding from state hospitals and clinics that perform abortions or even "abortion-related services," as part of a bill aiming to hold down state Medicaid costs. While that full bill has yet to be passed by the Senate, both chambers of the legislature have approved legislation requiring doctors to perform a sonogram before conducting an abortion -- a law that Republican Gov. Rick Perry has scheduled a special ceremonial to sign on Tuesday.

This time, as lawmakers took up a proposal creating health cooperatives for private insurance companies, Republican Rep. Bryan Hughes proposed an amendment that would bar private insurers statewide from reimbursing patients for abortions once federal health care reform championed by the Obama administration is implemented in Texas.

Republicans outnumber Democrats in the House 101 to 49, but Hughes was forced to withdraw that motion after opponents raised a point of order, delaying a vote on the entire bill for more than an hour.

Later, during hourslong, marathon debate on a measure making it easier for local courts to exchange cases and dockets, Hughes introduced an amendment that would raise the standards by which Texas judges can authorize minors to undergo abortions without parental consent.

Currently, a judge may approve an abortion for a girl under 18 when determining that a preponderance of the evidence shows having one without parental consent is in her best interest. Hughes wanted to raise the bar, authorizing judges to bypass parental consent for abortions only when there is "clear and convincing" evidence that doing so benefits the minor seeking to have one.

Rep. Jessica Farrar of Houston, the leader of House Democrats, raised another point of order that delayed voting. "Why are you doing this? Why do we need this?" she asked.

Hughes, who hails from Mineola, replied, "This is a big decision and we want to make sure these young people are prepared."

"I'm just amazed, all of these issues that have come up, the sonograms, now this," Farrar said. "The only people I see on this floor trying to advocate are men. I don't understand the obsession of men to regulate certain body parts."

Fellow Democrat Rep. Rene Oliveira of Brownsville said an unknown number of girls are leaving Texas for Mexico to undergo abortions.

"It's already hard enough for a young girl to do this," he said. "Why do we want to make it harder?"

Hughes' was again forced to withdraw that amendment, but two others also attached to the judicial reform bill passed.

One, sponsored by Rep. Will Hartnett, a Republican from Dallas, calls for collecting data on the number of times a state judge rules to waive parental consent in cases where minors seek abortions. Another, drafted by Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, states that a court-appointed legal guardian can't serve as a girl's attorney when she is seeking to waive parental consent and have an abortion.

The full judicial reform bill passed on a voice vote, but only after some representatives complained that it had become a "Christmas tree" piled high with 29 amendments. It heads to the Senate, which will have to consider it before the end of the session May 30.

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