The Regular Session of the 86th Legislature was abysmal for the Pro-Life cause. Although Texas Right to Life, grassroots leaders, and voters prioritized only four Pro-Life bills, just one bill (Senate Bill 22, which should have been significantly strengthened) passed and was signed into law. Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen, who announced his retirement under a cloud of corruption, and his leadership team actively thwarted Pro-Life issues from reaching the House floor for debate and passage—a shocking show of political malfeasance in light of the Pro-Life record achieved by Bonnen and the majority of House Republicans prior to 2019.
Two priority Pro-Life bills passed the State Senate and then died in the committee process in the State House. Because of Speaker Bonnen’s blatant betrayal of the Pro-Life movement, the only way to confirm whether individual representatives supported these is to score co-authorship of these two Pro-Life bills: HB 2434, companion of SB 1033, and HB 3158, companion of SB 2089. House members were repeatedly urged by constituents and by Texas Right to Life to co-author these bills and thereby signal their support. Consequently, members who failed to co-author these bills received a six-point penalty on their final score for each Pro-Life priority bill they failed to co-author.
THE PRO-LIFE SCORECARD: THE REASONING BEHIND THE SCORES
The Regular Session of the 86th Legislature was abysmal for the Pro-Life cause. Although Texas Right to Life, grassroots leaders, and voters prioritized only four Pro-Life bills, just one bill (Senate Bill 22, which should have been significantly strengthened) passed and was signed into law. Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen, who announced his retirement under a cloud of corruption, and his leadership team actively thwarted Pro-Life issues from reaching the House floor for debate and passage—a shocking show of political malfeasance in light of the Pro-Life record achieved by Bonnen and the majority of House Republicans prior to 2019.
Two priority Pro-Life bills passed the State Senate and then died in the committee process in the State House. Because of Speaker Bonnen's blatant betrayal of the Pro-Life movement, the only way to confirm whether individual representatives supported these is to score co-authorship of these two Pro-Life bills: HB 2434, companion of SB 1033, and HB 3158, companion of SB 2089. House members were repeatedly urged by constituents and by Texas Right to Life to co-author these bills and thereby signal their support. Consequently, members who failed to co-author these bills received a six-point penalty on their final score for each Pro-Life priority bill they failed to co-author.
