We urge the House State Affairs Committee to SUPPORT the following legislation:

1.  HB 145 and HB 146 improve Texas's current 24-hour waiting period for abortion by exempting rape and incest victims, and women seeking abortion due to severe fetal anomalies (Rep. Jessica Farrar).  While the mandatory 24-hour wait is discriminatory and disrespectful to any woman who has decided to seek an abortion, it endangers women facing such tragic circumstances.

2.  HB 357 eliminates the requirement in the new 24-hour wait law requiring abortions after 16 weeks be performed only at ambulatory surgical centers or hospitals (rather than clinics) (Rep. Eddie Rodriguez).  Women seeking an abortion after 16 weeks often do so because tragic fetal anomalies or severe health risks to the woman have just been identified.  Today, almost no hospital or ambulatory surgical center in Texas will provide an abortion--leaving Texas women to travel out of state for abortion care in these tragic circumstances.

3.  HB 358 includes information about clinics providing abortions and abortion referrals as part of the required information women are to receive as part of the new 24-hour wait and mandatory counseling law (Rep. Eddie Rodriguez).  The materials women are mandated to receive before they obtain an abortion include a list of agencies and organizations that provide pregnancy-related resources and counseling.  However, the legislature banned the inclusion of information about Planned Parenthood or any other clinic or agency that actually provides abortions or abortion referrals.  Instead, the legislature requires that women receive a list of fake "clinics" that in most cases provide no medical services and have no medical professionals on staff.  Fake "clinics" or so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" are not regulated by the State of Texas.

4.  HB 2278 amends the Health and Safety Code to remove the requirement that Texas women be told they are at an increased risk for breast cancer if they have an abortion (Rep. Dukes).  This bill would end a requirement that physicians provide their patients materials describing a mythical link between abortion and breast cancer, ensuring that medical facts, not political agenda, govern patient/physician communication in regard to abortion and breast cancer.  Every mainstream medical organization refutes this mythical claim - a comprehensive review by the National Institute for Health recently confirmed that there is no link between abortion and breast cancer. 

We urge the House State Affairs Committee to OPPOSE the following legislation:

1.  HB 16 allows pharmacists to discriminate against customers by refusing to fill or provide referrals for birth control and emergency contraception prescriptions (Rep. Frank Corte).  Women should be able to access their prescriptions for birth control, including emergency contraception, without intimidation, inconvenience, or delay.  No other prescriptions would be subjected to biased review under this bill.  It threatens women's health because a pharmacist could overrule a physician's recommendation and reject the prescription, regardless of whether the birth control was prescribed to help prevent ovarian cancer, high cholesterol, or any other medical risk.

2.  HB 702 requires any physician who believes a patient has experienced "complications" as a result of an abortion or attempted abortion to file a report with the Department of State Health Services.  This report would contain sensitive personal information about the woman.  Failing to file the report in a timely manner would subject the physician to fines or up to a year in jail (Rep. William Zedler).  HB 702 does not clearly define "complication," does not have appropriate confidentiality protections for both patient and doctor, and does not advance public health.  While this bill purports to protect women's health, it is actually an attempt to make abortion appear more dangerous than it actually is.

3.  HB 811 requires private physicians who perform fewer than 50 abortions annually to fulfill the same regulation requirements as licensed abortion providers, and to comply with Texas's 24-hour waiting period and "misinformed" consent law.  The Department of State Health Services would be authorized to conduct inspections of private physician's office for compliance (Rep. Frank Corte).  HB 811 is another targeted attempt to discourage private physicians from providing abortion care.  This bill is extremely burdensome for physicians who provide a handful of abortions per year to their patients.

4.  HB 979 requires hospitals or ambulatory surgical centers that provide abortions to be licensed as an abortion provider, in addition to their current licensing requirements (Rep. Frank Corte).  HB 979 is yet another bill by Rep. Frank Corte that requires additional licensing and reporting requirements to facilities that provide abortion care.  Abortion providers---as well as hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers--currently comply with an extraordinary number of requirements and regulations.  No data has shown that these additional requirements are necessary.

5.  HB 1212 requires a young woman to either receive parental consent to have an abortion or to meet additional requirements in seeking a judicial bypass from the court (Rep. Phil King).  HB 1212 will make it more difficult for teenagers to access abortion care with a judicial bypass by requiring them to prove a higher level of parental abuse threatens their safety.  This bill also potentially compromises the safety and confidentiality of teens from rural counties by requiring that they go to the court in their county of residence, not the county where they would obtain the abortion. 

6.  HB 1469 amends the Health and Safety Code to require physicians to orally, either in person or via the phone, provide women with inaccurate medical information.  Previously they only had to offer written materials to their patients (Rep. Frank Corte).  This bill compromises the doctor-patient relationship by forcing doctors to promote biased, medically-inaccurate state-mandated materials.

7.  HB 3392 requires young women to either receive parental consent (instead of Texas's current parental notice requirement) or seek a judicial bypass from the court to have an abortion (Rep. Mike Villarreal).  Most young women considering abortion voluntarily discuss their options with a parent.  NARAL Pro-Choice Texas opposes parental consent legislation because the government cannot mandate healthy family communication where it does not exist.  This bill would harm young women who are unable to seek consent from parents who are absent, abusive, neglectful, mentally incapacitated or severely dysfunctional.