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Texas Tries Again to Pass 20-Week Abortion Ban As Pro-Life Activists Mobilize
Austin, TX - The second special session of the Texas Legislature, set
to begin today, promises to provide more high drama as a pro-life bill
is considered that bans abortions after 20 weeks and provides other
abortion clinic safety regulations to protect women.
The
new 30-day session was called by Gov. Rick Perry after a contentious
pro-abortion mob disrupted the Senate last week after a filibuster
failed in the waning hours of the session. A vote was taken to pass
the pro-life law, but could not be signed before the session expired
due to the disruption.
Gov.
Perry assured an audience at the National Right to Life Convention on
Thursday that the much-needed Texas legislation, now called House Bill
2, would pass in this session.
"This
is simply too important a cause to allow unruly actions of the few to
stand," said Perry, who called on pro-life supporters to "match their
intensity, but do it with grace and civility."
Pro-lifers in support of the law gathering at the Texas Capitol in Austin are urged to wear blue.
Late-term abortion atrocities came to light during the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortionist Kermit Gosnell,
who was convicted on three counts of murder for snipping the spinal
cords of late-term babies born alive during abortions at his squalid
West Philadelphia abortion clinic.
Just two days after Gosnell's conviction, news broke that three former employees of Houston abortionist Douglas Karpen
accused him of twisting the heads off babies born alive during
abortions. Operation Rescue, which had worked with the ladies to bring
their allegations to the proper authorities, released a full report and
photos taken by the women that showed large, late-term aborted babies
that had large gashes in their necks. Karpen is under active
investigation by the Homicide Division of the Houston Police Department.
These
two revelations gave new urgency to the immediate passage of the
late-term abortion ban in Texas since the Legislature only meets every
two years. Polls have shown that 64% support a second-trimester
abortion ban, while over 80% of Americans support a ban on abortions in
the third-trimester of pregnancy.
HB
2 is set for a hearing in a House committee tomorrow, but already
pro-abortion activists are mobilizing with a rally today. Sen. Sylvia
Garcia promised more opposition to a bill that would provide protection
to late-term babies and ensure that more safety measures are in place
at abortion clinics.
"If anything, we will be more energized," Garcia told the Houston Chronicle. "We will be energized from the beginning."
"It's
hard to imagine anyone opposing safer conditions for women and
protections for babies that can feel pain and survive if birthed instead
of aborted," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "In
reality, the pro-abortion mob is supporting unsafe abortion clinics,
lower medical standards for women, and the inhumane and brutal killing
of babies that suffer terribly during an abortion. They are completely
out-of-step with the vast majority of people in Texas who are
horrified by such abuses."
To show support for the Texas pro-life legislation, pro-life supporters are taking to the social networking site Twitter.com and tweeting under the hashtag, "#Stand4Life."
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