Abortion rights threat as Texas approves ban

It has become a flashpoint for the national debate over abortion, and the rights guaranteed under Roe V Wade. Texas has now become the 13th state to pass a 20-week ban, as senators approved a new bill by 19 votes to 11.

As the former Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum put it earlier this week, when he travelled to Austin to support the bill: “I am here because Texas is the centre of the pro-life debate in the country right now.”

The decision marked the end of a long battle by pro-choice campaigners, who thought they had managed to frustrate the new law. Last month, Democrat Wendy Davis staged a marathon 11 hour filibuster, to stop it being put to a vote.

But her victory was only temporary. The Republican governor Rick Perry called a special session of the state legislature to push it through, and he is now certain to sign the measure, known as House Bill 2, into law.

The fight for the future of Texas is just beginning. Senator Wendy Davis

Activists from both sides staged noisy protests outside the Capitol building during the nine-hour debate, chanting slogans and waving banners. The public gallery became so noisy, some protesters were removed by security, while tampons, glitter and condoms were confiscated by officials.

As well as the new limits on procedures, critics say the new standards imposed on abortion clinics means most of them will have to close their doors, in a state which has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the United States.

Doctors performing terminations must be able to admit patients at a hospital within 30 miles, in case complications arise, and pills designed to induce abortions can only be taken when a doctor is present.

Julie Rickelman, from the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the law could be stopped in the courts.

“It is a cocktail of restrictions that have been blocked by other courts around the country,” she told NPR in the US. “It’s clearly unconstitutional.”

Courtroom challenge

Elizabeth Nash from the abortion rights research group, the Guttmacher Institute, said the measure would “completely reshape the abortion landscape.”

She added: “With this legislation, Texas will become one of the most restrictive states in the country.”

Democrats in the Senate are planning to launch a legal challenge. Senator Royce West said they had not been able to muster the numbers to stop it. “As soon as it’s signed by the governor, it will be challenged…we believe the whole bill is unconstitutional,” he told reporters.

The bitter debate in Texas echoes similar political battles over abortion around the country: in the last two weeks alone, bills have been going through state legislatures in North Carolina, Missouri and Wisconsin.

Courts have blocked efforts to impose a 20 week ban in Arizona, Georgia and Idaho, while other restrictive measures similar to the Texas provisions have been overruled in two states.

And Wendy Davis, for one, insists she is not giving up the struggle, even as the vote went through.

“The fight for the future of Texas is just beginning,” she declared.

Felicity Spector writes about US affairs for Channel 4 News.