Stone urged the court to grant a petition filed by the anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life Inc. (TAL) requesting that the city reject the proposed ballot language, and instead require a vote on each provision individually.
“While the substance of this proposed charter amendment conflicts with multiple substantive provisions of state law, this mandamus proceeding concerns a procedural problem: the charter amendment plainly violates Texas law’s longstanding prohibition on municipal charter amendments that ‘contain more than one subject,’” Stone wrote.
By: Andrea Drusch
On Friday the anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life Inc. (TAL) filed a petition requesting that the city reject the proposed ballot language, which it says violates a state law prohibiting multi-subject charter amendments, and require each issue to be listed and voted on separately.
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“Respondents have no discretion to force voters to approve or reject, all or nothing, charter provisions dealing with issues as varied as theft, graffiti, or prohibiting cooperation with state agencies regulating abortion providers,” wrote attorney Eric Opiela, a former executive director of the Republican Party of Texas.
City Council is expected to order that the ballot proposition appear on the May 6 ballot Thursday, a formality they don’t get to exercise judgment over. The deadline for setting the May ballot is Friday.
By: STEPHEN ELLIOTT
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas state Senate, has signaled he might be willing to take up the exceptions question. “I am not saying no, but we’d have to see a real groundswell of Republicans in the House and Senate to say yes,” Patrick told Spectrum News’ Capital Tonight in a December interview.
Amy O’Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance for Life, says her organization is “definitely against a rape-incest exception in our abortion laws,” though the group supports exceptions for medical emergencies. O’Donnell adds, however, that her organization has not withdrawn support from anti-abortion rights lawmakers who support rape and incest exceptions.
In Wisconsin, some GOP leaders also are interested in adding exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban, a law dating to 1849 that was reactivated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. But the situation in Wisconsin is complicated, because while Republicans control the legislature, Gov. Tony Evers is a Democrat.
By: Stephen Elliott
Amy O’Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance for Life, said her organization is “definitely against a rape-incest exception in our abortion laws,” though the group supports exceptions for medical emergencies. O’Donnell added, however, that her organization has not withdrawn support from anti-abortion rights lawmakers who support rape and incest exceptions.
In Wisconsin, some GOP leaders also are interested in adding exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban, a law dating to 1849 that was reactivated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. But the situation in Wisconsin is complicated because while Republicans control the legislature, Gov. Tony Evers is a Democrat.
By: Stephen Elliott
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the state Senate, has signaled he might be willing to take up the exceptions question.
“I am not saying no, but we’d have to see a real groundswell of Republicans in the House and Senate to say yes,” Patrick told Spectrum News’ Capital Tonight in a December interview.
Amy O’Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance for Life, said her organization is “definitely against a rape-incest exception in our abortion laws,” though the group supports exceptions for medical emergencies. O’Donnell added, however, that her organization has not withdrawn support from anti-abortion rights lawmakers who support rape and incest exceptions.
By: Micaiah Bilger
Cypress Rep. Tom Oliverson, interim GOP House caucus chair, said the fact that Republicans maintained control of state government in the November elections, when Democrats made the state’s abortion ban a central line of attack, shows that voters feel they’re on the right track.
“I can tell you confidently from my community’s perspective,” he said, “that the overwhelming majority of them are very OK with the law as written.”
Texas Right to Life, the Texas Alliance for Life and other pro-life organizations are calling for legislation to ensure that unborn babies are being protected in the state.
“Simply because abortion is illegal in statute doesn’t mean it’s actually being followed everywhere in the state,” Texas Right to Life president John Seago told the news outlet. “We want to pass several bills that will address some of the new lawless trends that we have seen in the last 18 months.”
Pro-life leaders estimate that tens of thousands of babies have been saved from abortion since the Texas heartbeat law went into effect.