To Push a Radical National Agenda
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5IT’S A 3" HOW ANTI-CHOICE GROUPS HAVE1 USED TEXAS TO PUSH A RADICAL NATIONAL AGENDA IT’S A TRAP! HOW ANTI-CHOICE GROUPS HAVE USED TEXAS TO PUSH A RADICAL NATIONAL AGENDA The Supreme Court case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt challenged Texas’s extreme abortion restrictions, known collectively as House Bill 2. While a decision in favor of HB 2 would be devastating to the health of Texan women and to women across the country, no matter the outcome anti-choice organizations have no plans to slow down their attempts to enact a radical agenda aimed at effectively eliminating a woman’s right to choose. Using bogus claims that have been consistently refuted by medical professionals, these groups promote and support legislative proposals that are not only not based in scientific fact, they put women in danger. In 2013, Texan women made their voices heard but Republicans in the state legislature ignored them. In July 2013, the GOP majority passed a package of stringent restrictions on abortion, over the protests of women all across Texas. The anti-choice individuals and groups who advocated for HB 2 wrapped their lobbying in false concern for women’s health, arguing that placing unnecessary burdens on abortion clinics and providers would somehow benefit patients in need of immediate care. But the consequences of the passage of the Texas law were anything but beneficial to women. Abortion clinics all over the state have closed, leaving poor and vulnerable women without access to basic medical care. Patients have had to wait weeks for an appointment at a clinic or have been unable to travel the distance to reach one at all. Desperate women have risked their lives attempting to end unwanted pregnancies on their own. If the Supreme Court upholds HB 2 these drastic consequences will expand to even more areas of the state, and even a now-possible tied decision would leave the law temporarily in place. The devastation to women’s healthcare that resulted from the passage of HB 2 was no accident. As a Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law, the bill was designed for one purpose: to restrict and ultimately end Texan women’s access to abortion. The radical groups behind HB 2—backed by funding from extreme right wing donors—have not hidden that their aim is to eliminate abortion completely, and that they see HB 2 as a stepping stone to that objective, both in Texas and the rest of the country. HB 2 is one of many radical laws recently passed by state legislatures – all with the same end goal of making abortion so difficult to access it is effectively eliminated. And while they wait for the Supreme Court, anti-choice groups have no plans to stop at supposed health and safety laws. In Texas, Texas Right to Life with support from national organizations continues to promote anti-women ideology over safe medical care, such as so-called “dismemberment abortion” bans which would outlaw a safe procedure used in nearly all abortions after the 12th to 14th week of pregnancy. The donors backing these groups include the National Christian Foundation, a leading funder of the evangelical movement, billionaire conservative donors the Wilks brothers (who backed former presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz to the tune of $15 million), conservative hedge fund manager Sean Fieler, “Texas GOP heavyweight” and billionaire James Leininger, and the Koch brothers. With the help of these donors and assistance from national organizations like the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, whose member doctors provided testimony that was consistently discredited, and Americans United for Life, which provides model anti-choice legislation, Texas groups pushed HB 2: Texas Alliance for Life directly lobbied for HB 2’s extreme restrictions. The organization opposes “the advocacy and practice” of all abortion, and claims that since it was founded it has “helped to bring into law all major pro-life bills” in Texas. The laws included a requirement that a doctor conduct an ultrasound (and “verbally describe the sonogram result – even if the woman doesn’t want to hear it,”) before providing an abortion and a bill defining a fertilized egg as an individual. Texas Right to Life, part of the extreme National Right to Life Committee, was a “leading supporter” of HB 2. TRL helped pass radical abortion restrictions including Texas’s extreme sonogram law, a bill defining a fertilized egg as an individual, and claimed it “spearheaded” efforts to strip finding from Planned Parenthood in Texas. The radical anti-choice organization Live Action has even recommended Texas Right to Life as a resource to help parents in “kicking Planned Parenthood out” of schools. Texans for Life Coalition urged its members to support HB 2 and bused anti-choice activists to rally outside the Texas Capitol in support of the bill. Texans for Life president Kyleen Wright praised the clinic closures that occurred after passage of the law, and said the organization was “not sorry” that women were losing access to basic health care. The Heidi Group urged its members to support HB 2, calling it a “miracle law.” The radical group is headed by Carol Everett who claims she used to be an abortion provider and that during that time she did things like convinced women who weren’t pregnant to get abortions. Everett has boasted that Heidi Group is responsible for closing 28 clinics in Texas and dramatically reducing women’s access to healthcare. The Texas Eagle Forum lobbied for HB 2’s restrictions and claimed credit for helping to win a Supreme Court ruling that refused to block HB 2’s rule requiring Texas doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges within 30 miles of where the abortion is performed. The organization is affiliated with The Eagle Forum founded by extremist anti-feminist and anti-choice activist Phyllis Schlafly. Texas Values supported HB 2 and the organization’s president Jonathan Saenz called the fight for passage of the bill, “a battle between good and evil, light and dark.” Texas Values is affiliated with radical groups like Focus on the Family. Table of Contents The Purpose Of HB 2 Was To Eliminate Access To Abortion Services ................................. 1 SCOTUS Decision On Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt Could Affect Reproductive Rights Across The Country ....................................................................................................... 4 Anti-Choice Groups Have Not Waited For SCOTUS, Continue To Push Radical Legislation ................................................................................................................................. 7 The Anti-Choice Individuals And Groups Behind Texas’s House Bill 2 .............................. 14 Americans United For Life .......................................................................................................................... 14 Concerned Women for America .................................................................................................................. 21 Texas Alliance For Life .............................................................................................................................. 29 Texas Right To Life.................................................................................................................................... 40 Texans For Life .......................................................................................................................................... 65 Heidi Group ................................................................................................................................................ 73 Texas Eagle Forum ..................................................................................................................................... 81 Texas Values ............................................................................................................................................... 90 Anti-Choice Doctors Backed HB 2......................................................................................... 96 The American Association Of Pro-Life Obstetricians And Gynecologists ............................................... 96 Anti-Choice Doctors Who Testified In Support Of HB 2 Have Been Discredited .................................. 108 1 THE PURPOSE OF HB 2 WAS TO ELIMINATE ACCESS TO ABORTION SERVICES NOT TO IMPROVE SAFETY Texas’s HB 2 Was Passed In 2013 The Texas Legislature Passed HB 2 In July 2013. According to the Texas Tribune, “After impassioned, often personal speeches from lawmakers in both parties noting the emotions that have followed House Bill 2 through the legislative process, the Texas Senate approved the omnibus abortion measure late Friday night. The measure restricting abortions in Texas is now headed to Gov. Rick Perry’s desk, having passed as thousands of protesters who opposed the measure chanted in and around the Capitol. The crowd outside the chamber erupted after HB 2 passed with a vote of 19-11.” [Texas Tribune, 7/13/13] HB 2 Had “Four Main Provisions,” Including A Requirement That All Abortions, Even “Drug-Induced Ones,” Be “Performed In Ambulatory Surgical Centers.” According to the Texas Tribune, “The version of the legislation filed in Texas’ second special session, authored by state Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, and sponsored in the upper chamber by Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, contains four main provisions: It would ban abortion at 20 weeks post-fertilization and recognize that the state has a compelling