GOP Rep. Geanie Morrison sponsored anti-abortion measure that puts teens at risk.
Most teenagers who are under 18 in Texas and seek an abortion must first obtain parental permission. But about 300 teens per year get a court-ordered abortion after demonstrating that informing their parents could lead to abuse or other adverse consequences that put them in harms way. That's no concern, however, to the state's House Republicans, who voted Wednesday to further restrict such access regardless of a teenager's safety concerns. The AP
has the details on GOP Rep. Geanie Morrison's measure.
Teens may file applications for the procedure in any Texas county, but Morrison’s bill would change that, requiring juveniles to seek the procedure in their home county. If the applicant’s home county has fewer than 10,000 residents, Morrison’s proposal would allow them to apply in a neighboring county.
It also requires courts to report statistics on judicial bypass applications and forces girls to undergo mental health assessments before obtaining a judge’s permission for an abortion. Some opponents of the procedure had pushed for publicizing the name of judges who grant abortions under judicial bypass — but that hot-button proposal was left out of Morrison’s otherwise sweeping measure.
Opponents also are concerned that adult women who may not have a valid government ID would be kept from having an abortion, since Morrison’s measure would stipulate that pregnant women are presumed to be minors unless they have an ID that proves otherwise.
Still, opponents say the changes would gut a system that had been effective.
This bill is pathetic. Its real aim is to bully teens who deem themselves at risk out of getting an abortion, proving once again that Republicans are more obsessed with controlling women's bodies than they are with protecting women's well-being.