Anti-abortion measure added to House Medicaid bill

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/anti-abortion-measure-added-to-house-medicaid-bill-1486685.html

The Texas House voted late Thursday to strip state funding to all hospitals and clinics that perform abortions or even "abortion-related services," endorsing an obscure amendment tacked onto an already convoluted overhaul of Medicaid funding and disbursements.

Lawmakers passed the abortion-funding amendment about the same time GOP Gov. Rick Perry was signing into law a measure passed earlier by the Republican-dominated legislature that requires all doctors to conduct a sonogram before performing an abortion.

The amendment was one of 114 pages of changes and additions attached to the Medicaid funding bill, and the legislation only got more complicated during four-plus hours of debate on the House floor.

Plainview Republican Rep. Jim Landtroop sponsored the amendment freezing state funding for facilities that perform abortions. He amended his own amendment to exclude abortion-related services in the cases of medical emergencies, but only after strenuous objections from Democratic opponents.

"It's not my intent to punish hospitals," Landtroop said. "It's to protect the lives of unborn children."

Democrat Donna Howard responded, "I'm getting a little tired of men speaking for women's health."

Some opponents say getting an abortion in Texas is becoming so difficult that it could drive women underground to have the procedure performed by unlicensed physicians. Others said the term "abortion-related services" was too vague and may be interpreted to include procedures such as sonograms.