AUSTIN - The Texas House began debating a bill Sunday night to ban abortion at 20 weeks and impose tighter regulations on the procedure, with Republicans calling it a crucial measure and Democrats decrying it as pure politics.
"The truth is that these bills aren't about women's health, and they aren't about the will of the people. They're about winning Republican primaries," said Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston.
Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, a Parker Republican sponsoring the legislation in the House, said it was meant to protect women and unborn children.
"The baby can feel the pain of an abortion at the post fertilization age of 20 weeks," she said.
House debate on the measure started late after Democrats used a series of delaying tactics to push back its consideration, threatening the legislation's passage before the special session ends Tuesday.
Gov. Rick Perry, however, could call another special session, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst suggested the governor might do so. Only Perry can call special sessions, and he controls their agenda.
"I happen to be a strong protector of the sanctity of life but right now the question of when we'll be called back to special session if we don't pass these bills is up to the governor," Dewhurst said. "Unless I'm misreading him, we're going to be called back in. There are certain items on this call that he shared with me that are a must-pass."
Abortion is one of several measures that is yet unresolved, along with transportation funding and punishment for youthful capital offenders. The Legislature has approved redistricting legislation, the item for which Perry initially called this session. The Senate finalized the issue Sunday.
The other measures are in the House, where Democrats raised a series of procedural objections and asked prolonged questions in an effort to postpone the abortion legislation.
"This late in the session, obviously every minute counts," said Rep. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican who strongly backs the tighter abortion regulations.
The Senate earlier approved stricter abortion regulations but abandoned the 20-week ban. If the House approves the legislation with the ban, or makes any other changes, it must return to the Senate for consideration.
If that happens too near the end of the session, it would open an opportunity for one of the Democratic senators who opposes the abortion measure to try to kill the legislation through a filibuster, or talking until the session ends.
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, said Democrats in the House and Senate were united in their opposition to the measure (at least one exception is Sen. Eddie Lucio, D- Brownsville, who voted for it) and would do "whatever it takes" to kill it.Ö
"It's endangering women at the expense of political posturing," Davis said.
Hughes said he thinks there was still time for the Legislature to pass the legislation and send it to Perry, saying a number of lawmakers consider it the most important bill of the year.
"It's important to a lot of people back home," Hughes said.
Lawmakers worked under the watchful eye of advocates on both sides of the abortion issue, who lined the second-floor lobby outside the House chamber.
Abortion-rights advocates were most evident, flooding the Capitol, standing on the stairs outside the chamber and largely filling the House gallery, many wearing burnt-orange T-shirts saying, "Stand with Texas Women." Organizers said they made 1,000 shirts and ran out of them at 1:30 p.m., before the House convened.
Abortion opponents also made their presence known but were evident in smaller numbers. Some wore red tape with the word "life" over their mouths, to signify they were representing "babies who can't speak for themselves," said Kyleen Wright of Texans for Life.
The Texas Senate days ago approved Senate Bill 5 to tighten abortion regulations after abandoning the proposed 20-week ban, which is championed by anti-abortion advocates based on the idea that a fetus can feel pain at that point, which is disputed.
The bill as approved by the Senate would require abortion clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers, which abortion-rights advocates say would force most to close.
The measure also would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles, and it would impose tougher requirements on the administration of medication intended to induce abortions.
Advocates of the measure insisted that it was meant to protect women, butDewhurst in a tweet suggested that its aim was to essentially ban abortion and cause clinics to close.
Before the legislation came to the House floor, the House State Affairs Committee added the 20-week ban.
Darlene Clements Murnin, 91, of San Antonio, who described herself as "crazily pro-choice," said she came to the Capitol on Sunday because 'the things that are happening to women more and more distress me so."
"If we could implant a uterus in maybe 100 of these men, and keep them pregnant for a year, things would change," she said. "Pregnancy is not an easy thing."
Christine Courteau Butler, 25, of Santa Fe, in the Houston area, said she was part of a group of four who came to stand against the measure.
"We just feel like standing up for women's rights is one of the most important things we can do," she said.
Before the debate began, Wright said she was encouraged by the support the abortion legislation had received from lawmakers and leadership. But she added, "We're very well aware we're working against the clock."
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