Editor’s note. The following comes from Texas Right to Life.
Because we would not back down, a new and improved version of the sonogram bill is headed to Governor Perry as early as this week! This new safeguard should save many unborn lives and protect women from ill-informed, life-changing abortion decisions.
Thank Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller for enhancing and protecting women’s informed consent by working to ensure the sonogram bill counts!
On Tuesday, May 3rd, the State Senate of the Texas Legislature just again passed the sonogram bill by a vote of 21 to 10!
Your phone calls and emails worked.
By standing firm — even after being told: “Texas Right to Life pushes too hard!” and “You’re too hard to work with!” — your grassroots activism prompted legislators to keep the sonogram in the sonogram bill. THE RESULT: The State Senate passed a bill that is stronger than the version from just two weeks ago!
Even though there are now solid Pro-Life majorities and leadership in both the State Senate and the State House, the few remaining pro-aborts used every trick in the book in attempts to water down the final version. Yet the sponsor, State Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston), stood by his bill confidently and successfully defended every provision.
We have been working on the sonogram bill for five years. Most abortion clinics claim that a sonogram is already done prior to abortion. The problem is that women have been refused the option to view the screen and to see their unborn child. Texas Right to Life has always supported the woman’s right to see her sonogram, but we needed to codify that right in the sonogram bill. The version passed this week requires abortion clinics to do a sonogram before every abortion and give the woman the option to view her unborn child and listen to her unborn child’s heartbeat.
We are proud to be known for our tough, unrelenting stands for Life! This is why for years you have prayed for and generously supported Texas Right to Life — because Texas Right to Life, in conjunction with the experts at National Right to Life, sets the standard!
Texas Right to Life is thankful for the priority given to the lifesaving sonogram bill in this 82nd Texas Legislative Session. Pro-Life Governor Perry fast-tracked the measure, and both chambers have now passed the sonogram bill. Under the unwavering leadership of State Representative Sid Miller (R-Stephenville), the House Bill sponsor, the House announced on Wednesday morning that they approve of the Senate’s actions on the sonogram bill.
While ardently working to secure the 21st vote in the Senate, Pro-Life Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, who presides over the State Senate, and Senator Patrick reworked the bill, narrowed the exemptions, and put the sonogram back into the sonogram bill. Representative Miller had already passed the State House version of the sonogram bill on March 3rd, and the senate has been tweaking various provisions of the bill since then.
We are proud to be known for our tough, unrelenting stands for Life! This is why for years you have prayed for and generously supported Texas Right to Life — because Texas Right to Life, in conjunction with the experts at National Right to Life, sets the standard! Because we would not back down, a new and improved version of the sonogram bill is headed to Governor Perry as early as this week! This new safeguard should save many unborn lives and protect women from ill-informed, life-changing abortion decisions.
Thank Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller for enhancing and protecting women’s informed consent by working to ensure the sonogram bill counts!
Email Dan.Patrick@Senate.State.Tx.Us and Sid.Miller@House.State.Tx.Us and offer your heartfelt thanks to these champs for working to restore the sanctity of innocent human life.
Yours for Life,
Elizabeth Graham
Director