Ft. Worth (WBAP/KLIF News) – Writers of Texas’ abortion regulations say they may revisit the issue when the legislature reconvenes in 2017. This week, the Supreme Court ruled that the laws passed in 2013 placed an undue burden on women seeking an abortion.
“I was very disappointed but not very surprised,” says Matt Krause (R-Ft. Worth).
Krause was one of the authors of HB2 in 2013. He says the law did not try to restrict abortions but make the procedure safer for women.
“They were common sense reforms to make sure that when women went to have these procedures done, they were treated with a minimal level of care,” he says.
Among those provisions was a measure that would have required doctors to hold admitting privileges at a hospital nearby.
“We know some out-of-state abortionists would come into Texas, do a bunch of abortions and then fly home,” he says. “What if an emergency happens on their watch?”
A study by the University of California at San Francisco, cited during oral arguments before the Supreme Court, found that complications from abortion lead to hospital admission in 0.23 percent of cases.
Krause says he is happy that the ban on abortions after 20 weeks remains in effect, but he says the legislature may try to pass new regulations using the Supreme Court’s majority opinion as a guide. Krause says Anthony Kennedy could prove the swing vote, and lawmakers may write a new bill that uses the majority opinion as a guide.
“You’re a wordsmith,” Krause says. “You’ve got to make sure that you take into account what he said in Planned Parenthood v Casey. Now, you’ve got to add in the majority opinion this time.”
(Copyright 2016 WBAP/KLIF News. All rights reserved)
