Texas' Prenatal Protection Act Passes

Texas Alliance for Life ^ | May 29, 2003 | Texas Alliance for Life

[hocndoc]

Texas Alliance for Life Legislative Update May 28, 2003

TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO PRENATAL PROTECTION ACT!

This evening at about 7:30 PM, in a tremendous victory for the grass roots pro-life movement in Texas, the Texas House of Representatives gave final approval to the Prenatal Protection Act, SB 319. The vote on final passage was 112-15.

The Prenatal Protection Act extends personhood to the unborn child from conception through birth, makes it a crime to kill an unborn child against the mother’s wishes, and allows parents to sue for the wrongful death of their unborn child. Senator Ken Armbrister (D-18, Victoria) authored SB 319 in the Senate and Rep. Ray Allen (R-106, Grand Prairie) sponsored it in the House. Its passage has been a major goal of all major pro-life organizations in Texas.

Without a doubt, the success of this and other pro-life bills would not have been possible without the massive grass roots support demonstrated by large numbers of calls into the Capitol.

Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) offered another hostile amendment intended to significantly weaken the bill by by limiting personhood only to unborn babies who are able to live outside the mother's womb. That amendment failed on a vote of 25-87 with four abstentions.

Since the House has made some technical changes to SB 319, the Senate must "vote to concur." This will likely occur before Friday. Pro-life Governor Rick Perry is expected to sign it into law.

For more information, click on www.texasallianceforlife.org. Or contact Dr. Joe Pojman, Ph.D., Executive Director, at 512-477-1244 or joe@texasallianceforlife.org. Texas Alliance for Life (TAL) is an independent, non-sectarian, non-partisan pro-life organization based in Austin. TAL works exclusively through peaceful, legal means to protect innocent human lives from conception through natural death.

[hocndoc]

Good news!

[hocndoc]

112 for, 15 against!

As soon as our good Governor signs the Bill, the unborn child will be an individual under the law of the State of Texas.

[TXBubba]

Great news! Thanks for the update.

[hocndoc]

Thank you for the ping list! (I've got to learn how to do that someday!)

[Mears]

I'm anti abortion but this law scares me.

If the pregnant mother is careless in some way and causes a spontaneous abortion is she then to be considered a murderer?

[hocndoc]

BTW, I don't think the bill actually confers *legal* personhood on the unborn child. But, I'll take this incremental step toward recognizing the moral and ethical personhood of all humans.

[hocndoc]

No, the law specifically exempts any action of the mother.

Sec. 19.06. CERTAIN CONDUCT EXCEPTED. It is an exception to
the application of this chapter that the death was the death of an
unborn child and that the conduct charged is:
(1) conduct committed by the mother of the unborn
child;
(2) a lawful medical procedure performed by a
physician or other licensed health care provider with the requisite
consent, if the death of the unborn child was the intended result of
the procedure; or
(3) the dispensation of a drug in accordance with law
or administration of a drug prescribed in accordance with law.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[Mears]

Thanks for your reply,I feel better now.

[wolfdaddie]

Doesn't paragraph 2 of sec. 19.06 state that abortions are excepted? So, how is this a benefit to the unborn child?

Splain this to me.

[Mr. Silverback]

Any legal acknowledgement of the obvious (an unborn child is, duh, a human) is helpful to the pro-life cause. Roe vs. Wade is a big exception to the usual lib M.O. which is to work incrementally. We're winning hearts and minds, and this law might help us win in court someday.

[Mr. Silverback]

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[hocndoc]

Mr. Silverback is right.
Also, as the law stands, now, courts have been unable to prosecute for lethal wounds to the child if the injury occurs before birth. There was a case a few years ago when a woman lost a child after she was shot. The child was even born alive, but the judge refused to hear the case for murder for the child because the injury occured before birth. The same thing has happened when a drunk driver causes the death.

Also, people don't like to go to jail, and it's probable that a battering husband or boyfriend will be less likely to beat a pregnant woman if he can be arrested, tried, and convicted and jailed for killing the child. (Batterers rarely attack because they're "out of control." If the batterer were really "out of control" he'd already be in jail. He does it to get his way and to control. But now, he'll probably find another way.)