Protesters in Texas are taking on bills aimed at decreasing access to abortions in the state.
A group of women dressed in red robes and white bonnets showed up to the Senate floor Monday to protest multiple anti-abortion rights bills.
The clothes were a tribute to "The Handmaid's Tale," a book and upcoming Hulu show. The story talks about women being reduced to "walking wombs" because they have to bear children for upper-class couples who can't conceive.
If passed, Senate Bill 415 would ban a common procedure used in second trimester abortions. Those behind the bill have called the procedure "dismemberment abortion."
The bill defines dismemberment abortion as "causing the death of an unborn child" by extracting the child one piece at a time with the use of clamps or similar instruments that perform certain harmful measures on the fetus's body.
The second bill, Senate Bill 25, would protect doctors from lawsuits if a child is born with an abnormality. The bill would allow doctors to withhold information about a fetus's disability if they believe the information would lead the woman to choose abortion.
For example, if a doctor found a defect during an ultrasound and didn't inform the mother, the mother could not later file a "wrongful birth" suit.
SB 25 will likely go for a final vote soon. Senate Bill 415 passed the state Senate and is headed to the House.
The state of Texas already has pretty stringent laws on abortion. For one, fetal tissue from an abortion has to be cremated or buried. There's also a 24-hour waiting period between counseling and the actual termination of a pregnancy.
If Senate Bill 415 passes, those who perform the second trimester abortion procedure would be charged with a state felony.
