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On February 17th, The Texas State Senate voted 21 to 10 to require women to have a sonogram shown to them only hours before they receive an abortion. The doctor must explain in detail the parts of the sonogram to the woman and make her listen to the heartbeat of the fetus.
A similar bill made its way through the house committee stages and as it was deemed an“emergency item” it will be the first bill considered by the House this year. While the bills do have some differences it seems likely that they can be reconciled if the bill makes its way through the house, which unfortunately, it probably will because of the huge Republican majority in the House.
The fact that Governor Perry has made the bill an “emergency item” is sickening. Even for pro-life supporters, it should seem that Texas has many more pressing problems than this guillotine to civil liberties. The state has a $27 billion dollar budget shortfall, has more uninsured people than any other state and ranks 3rd in the number of people living in poverty. However, our great elected officials in Austin believe that setting back women's rights is the most pressing matter facing our state.
Supporters of the bill state the bill is important because it allows a woman to see the development of the fetus and hear the heartbeat before making an irreversible decision. However, the bill is truly a abhorrent violation of civil liberties.
Roe v. Wade gave women across the nation the right to choose and it does not seem likely that this will change. For this reason, the Texas Legislature has resorted to scare tactics as a means to reduce the number of abortions in the state.
Through it seems unlikely that we will be able to stop this bill from becoming law, we must do what we can to let Austin know that we are shocked at this impediment of women's rights. I encourage all those reading this blog to go and sign the petition “Tell Texas Lawmakers to Stop Playing Politics with Women's Health” started be change.org.
You can find this petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-texas-lawmakers-to-stop-playing-politics-with-womens-health. I also encourage you to contact your representative and tell him how you feel about this bill.
Texas is great state and a great place to live, but we must not allow our elected representatives to stomp on our civil liberties. We must let our voices be heard.
I signed the petition. I hope more people do.