From the Fort Worth Star Telegram: Long-fought legislation to toughen abortion restrictions in Texas moved one step closer to reality late Tuesday.
After more than 10 hours of debate, members of the Republican-led House voted 98-49 to give preliminary approval to a proposal geared to prevent abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and put in place restrictions that would essentially shut down most abortion clinics in Texas.Final House approval of the bill could come as soon as today, sending the issue to the Texas Senate, where it died in the final moments of the first special legislative session that ended last month. Democrats managed to thwart the measure with a filibuster by state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, and loud noise from the crowd in the galleries that created pandemonium.“This is great for Texas,” said state Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, one of the many supporters of the bill. “It ensures that, when you have a major surgery that requires the taking of a life, [facilities] meet minimal health and safety standards.“This will save thousands of lives and improve health care for women.”...At the heart of the debate is banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.Other provisions of the bill require abortions to be performed at ambulatory surgical centers, create more oversight of women taking abortion-inducing drugs such as RU-486 and require doctors to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of the facilities where the perform abortions.There now are about three dozen licensed health centers in Texas where women may get abortions. If this measure becomes law, all but a few of those clinics would likely close, leaving facilities only in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, estimates show.Emotions on this issue run high — so high that security at the Capitol was increased, as officials sought to avoid a repeat of what happened in the Senate last month, an outcry top GOP officials have called “mob rule” and Democrats have dubbed a “citizens filibuster.” http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/07/09/4991222/texas-house-heading-for-vote-on.htmlI'm not sure what the abortion opponents are upset about. This bill ensures good health care for the mother to be. If the doctors and clinics cannot conform to the bill then that tells me they run an unsafe operation in which women would have an increased chance of having complications during an abortion. Does the name Kermit Gosnell come to mind, the Philadelphia doctor who was convicted of murdering 3 babies, killing an innocent mother to be along with selling prescription drugs out his office ring a bell to those pro-death pro abortion idiots out there?From Reuters: A Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted of murdering three babies during late-term abortions pleaded guilty on Tuesday to selling prescription drugs out of his clinic, federal prosecutors said.Kermit Gosnell, 72, was sentenced in May to three life terms without parole after being found guilty on three counts of first-degree murder. As part of a deal that spared him from the death penalty, Gosnell waived his right to appeal.
He was also sentenced to up to five years for the involuntary manslaughter of a patient, Karnamaya Mongar, 41, of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose after going to him for an abortion.
On Tuesday, Gosnell pleaded guilty to another series of charges, including conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, alprazolam, and codeine, and maintaining a place for the illegal distribution of those drugs. He will be sentenced on those charges in October.
Gosnell admitted to writing fraudulent prescriptions for thousands of prescription pills to individuals, in some cases without performing an exam. Customers were allowed to purchase multiple prescriptions under multiple names, according to prosecutors.
In January 2010, Gosnell wrote more than 2,300 prescriptions for controlled substances that were later filled at pharmacies, according to prosecutors.
Graphic trial testimony at Gosnell's murder trial centered on his actions at the now-closed Women's Medical Society Clinic in West Philadelphia, a clinic that served a predominantly black and low-income community. The trial cast a spotlight on the controversial practice of late-term abortions.
A clinic worker testified during the trial that Gosnell had delivered live babies during botched late-term abortions and cut their spinal cords. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/10/us-usa-philadelphia-clinic-idUSBRE96902I20130710
So, on to the Texas Senate where I hope they have a muzzle for the loud mouth Wendy Davis who filibustered so more babies died and put women more in danger.
At the Friday Night Café...
1 hour ago
These "trap laws" aren't about safety or health, they're about shutting down abortion. It's all designed to revisit Roe v. Wade. I don't think they're even trying to disguise it anymore.
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