Life, Choices & Bullies: Legislative Weekly Wrap-Up

The legislative week ended on a high note, with the Texas House passing the House version of the Sonogram Bill, HB 15 by Rep. Sid Miller, by a vote of 103-42. 

Thank you to all the pro-life legislators that held firm!  Click here for recorded vote details.  Opponents of this informed consent bill were able to delay the result by almost two days, but they knew all along that HB 15 would pass.  The Choose Life License Plate bill passed the Senate Health & Human Services committee, and the House version is expected to pass next week.  We supported both bills at the hearings. 

In a public hearing this week, we vigorously opposed HB 224, an effort that has the potential to protect some categories of people (transgender, bisexual), but not others.  HB 224 is being pushed as an anti-bullying bill, but it is very problematic, including a section that allows schools to help students hide bullying information from their parents.  HB 224 is so hostile to constitutional rights, that even the ACLU opposed it! The story on this bill has gone national as the LGBT community clearly has HB 224 as one of their top priorities to pass. The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) lobby will be bombarding legislative offices next Monday to push for HB 224.  http://hq-equalityfederation.salsalabs.com/o/35034/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=4215