On Thursday, July 18, Governor Perry signed into law HB2, the bill that would ban abortion in Texas after 20 weeks. The bill would also require all clinics that provide abortion to be upgraded to surgical centers, and would require doctors who perform the service to have admitting privileges to hospitals within 30 miles. The bill was specifically designed to set standards that were impossible to meet in the designated timeframe (September 2014) which means that all but 5 clinics that provide abortions—one of their many services in regards to women’s healthcare—will have to shut their doors.
Hours later, Representatives Phil King, Dan Flynn, and Geanie Morrison introduced HB59, a bill that would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which typically occurs around the 6-week mark. Many women are unaware they are even pregnant at this point.
The bill will not be considered for this special session, which ends July 31, but don’t underestimate Perry’s willingness to erode as much access to healthcare as he can on his way out the door. By the way, it is estimated that each special session costs Texas taxpayers $800,000.
The endgame of the ultra-conservative GOP legislature is to ban abortion completely. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst has openly said this himself. The pandering to the religious right about protecting “our smallest and most vulnerable Texans” and “protecting women” is merely a manipulative platitude. If it weren’t, these wouldn’t be the same politicians who have vociferously cut spending on education (a devastating 25% cut), affordable health care and other programs that aid the poor and desperate who are otherwise unable to obtain the immediate care they need to survive. And as far as adoption goes, a mere 616 children out of 6,400 were adopted in fiscal year 2012. Where are the movements to strengthen these shameful numbers?
Although HB59 won’t pass right now, make no mistake: this bill will be introduced again and again into the public sphere, just like its predecessor HB2. And the message is clear: women are not capable of making decisions about their own bodies. And for women and potential children alike, health and well-being (whether financially, physically, mentally or otherwise) matter less than the idea of potential children. HB2 is likely to do incredible damage if followed through. HB59 will bring us to a full destructive theocracy.
Image: Chelsea Gomez (Oakes) via Flickr
