“Informed Consent” Bills Rear Ugly Heads In Anticipation Of 81st Session Of Texas Legislature

A pair of twin so-called “informed consent” bills have reared their heads in the first day of pre-filing of legislation in anticipation of the start of the 81st Texas Legislature in January.

HB 36 and SB 182, identical bills filed by State Rep. Frank Corte (D-San Antonio) and State Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), the pro-life prima donnas  of their respective chambers mirror closely “informed consent” legislation we’ve seen in years past. Texas already has a form of “informed consent” law on the books passed by the Texas Legislature in 2003 that requireswomen to look at literature about an abortion before obtaining one. As studies have shown, the literature used in Texas is heavily flawed.

The new “informed consent” laws would require that women be shown ultrasounds. Complete with language out of the 1800s,  neither the woman seeking the abortion nor the doctor can be penalized if the woman “averts” her eyes from the ultrasound:

A pregnant woman may avert her eyes from the ultrasound images required to be provided to and reviewed with the pregnant woman under Section 171.012(a)(4).

Here is what Corte told AP about his bill:

State Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, filed the bill seeking the new “informed consent” requirements for women who seek an abortion. Corte’s policy director, Kathi Seay, said the legislation “is not to encourage or discourage anything, it’s just to make sure they have all the information they need.”

Seay might as well have said that the legislation is to encourage women to do what Rep. Corte wants them to do with their va-jay-jay instead of what the Supreme Court reminds them the Constitution permits them the right to do.

As expected, advocates for women’s rights and health will be fighting the bill tooth and nail:

Abortion rights advocates called the legislation “politically divisive” and vowed to mount a vigorous effort to defeat it.

“It’s something that we will absolutely be fighting,” said Sara Cleveland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. Cleveland predicted that conservatives would have a tougher time this year passing abortion curbs because Democrats, generally more liberal on reproductive rights, increased their numbers in the state House and Senate.

Since Roe v. Wade, Texas has passed at least five major laws regulating abortions. Third-trimester abortions were banned by legislation in 1987. In 1977, legislation was passed that protected the rights of medical personnel who refused to participate in abortions as well as those who did. In that same year, legislation was passed mandating that private hospitals and health care facilities weren’t legally obligated to provide abortions unless the life of the mother was immediately threatened.  In 1985, the state passed the Texas Abortion Facility Reporting and Licensing Act stipulating that all abortion facilities report certain statistical information about patients to the department of health, and that facilities not under the jurisdiction of the Texas Hospital Licensing Law or a physician’s office must be licensed if they were to perform abortions.

In 2003, the legislature mandated (via passage of the “Woman’s Right To Know Act,”) that any abortion performed after 15 weeks be performed in an ambulatory surgical center, and added part of the “informed consent” language into state law.

In 2005, legislation was passed that imposed additional limits on late-term abortions and required minors to get written parental consent before having an abortion. A judicial bypass law allowing a teen to get an abortion without the consent of at least one parent or guardian was passed by the Legislature in 2000.

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