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Texas Republicans pass new abortion limits

AUSTIN - Republicans in the Texas Legislature passed an omnibus abortion bill that is one of the most restrictive in the United States, but Democrats have vowed to fight in the courts and at the ballot box as they used the measure to rally their supporters.

Abortion rights advocates protest outside of the Senate Chamber in Austin, Texas. Photo: AP

Abortion rights advocates protest outside of the Senate Chamber in Austin, Texas. Photo: AP

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AUSTIN - Republicans in the Texas Legislature passed an omnibus abortion bill that is one of the most restrictive in the United States, but Democrats have vowed to fight in the courts and at the ballot box as they used the measure to rally their supporters.

More than 2,000 demonstrators filled the Capitol building in Austin yesterday (July 13) to voice their opposition to the bill, including six protesters who were dragged out of the Senate chamber by state troopers for trying to disrupt the debate. The Republican majority passed the bill unchanged just before midnight Friday, with all but one Democrat voting against it.

“Today the Texas Legislature took its final step in our historic effort to protect life,” said Governor Rick Perry, who will sign the bill into law in the next few days. “This legislation builds on the strong and unwavering commitment we have made to defend life and protect women’s health.”

Democrats promised a legal challenge to the measure, which will ban abortions after 20 weeks, require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and require all abortions to take place in surgical centres. Only five out of 42 existing abortion clinics in Texas meet the requirements to be a surgical centre, and clinic owners say they cannot afford to upgrade or relocate.

“There will be a lawsuit. I promise you,” Dallas Senator Royce West said on the Senate floor, raising his right hand as if taking an oath.

Texas Governor Rick Perry said yesterday that the abortion bill awaiting his signature is constitutional and will withstand court challenges. A spokesman for Perry said the bill could be signed midweek.

“We wouldn’t have passed it if we didn’t think it was constitutional,” Mr Perry told reporters. The governor said some people say the measure goes too far “but most Texans don’t”.

Democrats proposed 20 amendments to the bill, including making exceptions in cases of rape and incest and allowing doctors more leeway in prescribing abortion-inducing drugs. But Republicans would have none of it.

The bill is one of many championed in Republican-controlled states this year by anti-abortion groups set on challenging the US Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a woman’s right to get an abortion until the point in which a foetus could viably survive outside the womb. A foetus is generally considered viable at 22 to 24 weeks.

Texas falls under the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has shown a willingness to accept more stringent limits on abortions.

By passing the new restrictions, Republicans pleased the Christian conservatives who make up the majority of the party’s primary voters. But they inspired abortion rights supporters to protest at the state Capitol in numbers not seen in Texas in at least 20 years. AP

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