AUSTIN - For the second time in as many days, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday expanded the scope of the Legislature's special session, adding to the agenda an issue sure to ignite fiery fights in the House and Senate - abortion.
In his directive, Perry also upped the special session ante by adding to the call a proposal to establish a mandatory sentence of life with parole for capital murders committed by 17-year-olds. The measure would allow Texas to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that did away with the death penalty and life without parole for 17-year-olds, effectively eliminating the state's options to punish suspects of that age convicted of capital murder.
Perry's move on abortion - set to appease conservatives around the state and enflame partisan tensions in the same stroke - generated the most fervor Tuesday. Perry did not specify any anti-abortion measure in particular, opting instead to instruct lawmakers broadly to pass "legislation relating to the regulation of abortion procedures, providers and facilities."
That leaves the door wide open for Republicans to try to push through any number of measures restricting abortion that failed to reach the floor of the House or Senate during the regular session. Among them, a measure to ban abortions after 20 weeks and a proposal to require higher standards for abortion clinics.
"In Texas, we value all life, and we've worked to cultivate a culture that supports the birth of every child," Perry said in a statement. "We have an obligation to protect unborn children, and to hold those who peddle these abortions to standards that would minimize the death, disease and pain they cause."
Conservative bloc
Even before the Legislature's 140-day session ended on May 27, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a bloc of Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion groups called on the governor to add abortion issues to the special session. They cheered the announcement Tuesday.
Perry's move, however, drew almost instant blow-back from pro-choice groups and Democrats, who labeled the addition of abortion to the special session as akin to rekindling a GOP-sponsored "attack on women."
"If the governor is going to keep legislators in Austin," said Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio, "let's make that time productive and work on issues that will take all Texans into the future, rather than pushing women's reproductive rights back to the past."
If the Legislature does not pass the proposals Perry outlined in his call, he could order them back for additional special sessions, though lawmakers do not always comply with governor's directive. During a 2011 special session, for example, the Legislature bucked Perry's mandate to pass a proposal on sanctuary cities.
Redistricting issue
Lawmakers already are working through the third week of a 30-day special session called originally to focus on redistricting, another hot-button topic expected to draw high-octane brawls once bills hits the House and Senate floor.
On Monday, Perry added transportation funding to the special session agenda.
The final cost for the special session, which can run a maximum of 30 days, is expected to exceed at least $800,000, once daily allotments, legal fees and travel are tallied.
During the regular session, Democrats in the Senate successfully blocked three of the most controversial abortion proposals by using a rule that requires support from 21 senators - or two thirds of the Senate - before most legislation can be brought up for a vote. Dewhurst has said the two-thirds rule will not be in place during the special session.
"Texas is already one of America's strongest pro-life states, but we can do more to protect the preborn," Dewhurst said. "In the interest of saving innumerable lives, I will not leave any option off the table to achieve the will of the people during the special session."
Omnibus bill filed
Within minutes of the Perry's proclamation Tuesday, Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, filed an omnibus bill tucking four of the most contentious anti-abortion measures under one umbrella.
That includes a proposal to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy; one to require abortion facilities to be certified as ambulatory surgical centers; another to require all doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics; and one to further regulate the use of abortion-inducing drugs.
"These are ugly bills that would do so much to hurt women and restrict women's health care in this state," said Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. "This is a very sad day for Texas women."
The anti-abortion proposals will be vetted publicly for the first time during the special session at a Thursday hearing.
A Wednesday hearing has been set for the proposal on 17-year-old capital murder defendants.
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