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HOUSTON -- The Texas House approved a law Monday that bans abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and imposes strict regulations on clinics that perform the procedure, a move that will force many to upgrade or close.
The Texas Senate may vote Monday on whether to take up the legislation.
The proposed law, approved by the House 95-34, would require abortions to be performed in ambulatory surgical centers and require doctors who do them to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.
Last week, the Senate approved a version of the legislation that did not include the 20-week ban. Republican Gov. Rick Perry has said he supports the proposed restrictions.
Republican-led states have increasingly placed restrictions on when and how women can end their pregnancies. Although 20-week bans have passed in other states in recent years, many face legal challenges. Courts in Arizona, Georgia and Idaho have struck down or issued injunctions blocking similar laws.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Monday at the Texas Capitol in Austin, many wearing bright orange T-shirts reading “Stand With Texas Women.”
“They intend this bill to close down clinics,” said Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL-Pro-Choice Texas.
Of 42 clinics providing abortions in Texas, five meet the more stringent surgical-center guidelines that have been proposed, Busby said. She noted that 87% of Texas counties don’t have an abortion provider, meaning women already travel an average 43 miles to get abortion.
Democrats in the Texas Senate are expected to try to filibuster the legislation, blocking a vote until Tuesday’s midnight deadline.
Though legal appeals have blocked similar laws in other states — and opponents would have a year before the law takes effect to mount legal challenges — Busby did not expect Texas appeals courts to support her cause.
“The numbers are not in our favor — if it comes to a vote by midnight tomorrow, it stands a very highly likely chance of becoming law,” she said.
Texas supporters of the law also marshaled forces in Austin on Monday and were optimistic the legislation would pass.
“We really tried to pick legislation that had survived challenges elsewhere,” said Kyleen Wright, president of the Texans for Life Coalition, “The bill was very much aimed at increased safety for women.”
She said the goal was not to close clinics but to improve “very poor and even frightening conditions.”
“We do care about the women as much as the babies,” she said, citing the case of a Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted earlier this year of killing three babies at his clinic, saying the case spurred legislative action in Texas.
Wright told The Times she was also at the Texas Capitol Monday to push for a Senate vote.
“We have about 36 hours to get this done,” she said. “We have survived past a lot of hurdles so we are very, very optimistic.”
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molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
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