Written for The Texas Observer legislative blog "Floor Pass."
After a long Wednesday considering airport security screenings and fireworks regulations, the House State Affairs Committee tried its hand at medical science, with Rep. Jodie Laubenberg’s proposal to ban abortions after 20 weeks. Back in January, Gov. Rick Perry said a “fetal pain” bill like House Bill 2364 was one of his priorities for the session. The measure is based on the pseudoscientific argument that fetuses can feel pain 20 weeks after conception, a hot sub-debate within the fight over abortion access. State Affairs, which also heard last session’s pre-abortion sonogram bill, is at the center of the women’s health debate again this session. Having already debated Wednesday whether abortion raises a woman’s risk of breast cancer (it doesn’t), the committee grappled with even deeper scientific questions with Laubenberg’s bill.Read more.