Pro-Life priorities for the 86th Session of the Texas Legislature

Texas Right to Life is proud to announce the Pro-Life priorities for the 86th Session of the Texas Legislature.  This Pro-Life agenda will save lives, positively direct the cultural conversation around our issues, and prime Texas to win long-lasting judicial victories.  

  1.     Preborn NonDiscrimination Act (PreNDA)

       SB 1033 by Senator Kelly Hancock and HB 2434 by Representative Matt Schaefer

  • Closes the loophole in Texas law that leaves preborn babies suspected to have disabilities vulnerable to late-term abortions.
  • Prohibits discriminatory abortions that take the lives of preborn children simply because of their sex, race, or suspected disability.
  • Strengthens the statewide network of social and medical resources, like perinatal palliative care services, to provide Texas families with life-affirming options when their preborn children are diagnosed with disabilities.
  1.     Repeal anti-Life “10-Day Law” in the Texas Advance Directives Act

      SB 2089 by Senator Bryan Hughes and HB 3158 by Representative Richard Raymond

  • Currently, the Texas Advance Directives Act (Section 166.046, Texas Health & Safety Code) authorizes physicians and hospitals to withdraw and deny basic life-sustaining medical treatment from a patient against his or her expressed wishes.
  • Texas law only requires that the patient or his or her surrogate receive a mere 10-day notice of the physician’s or hospital’s intent to withdraw and deny the requested basic treatment.
  • Once the hospital’s own ethics committee makes and approves the decision to withdraw and deny care, the patient has limited legal recourse, thus depriving patients of their civil liberties by giving power over life and death decisions to hospital committees.
  • This Pro-Life bill repeals this provision so that basic life-sustaining treatment will be continued until the patient is transferred to a more appropriate care setting or to another physician who will honor the patient’s medical decisions regarding life and death.
  1.     Stop funding abortion with state and local tax dollars

       SB 22 by Senator Donna Campbell, M.D. and HB 1929 by Representative Candy Noble

  • Permanently prohibits any state funding of the abortion industry and establishes penalties.
  • Prohibits local governments from contracting with abortion providers and their affiliates.
  • Excludes abortion providers and their affiliates from any and all state money and contracts.
  • Permanent prohibitions of this type with clear enforcement mechanisms will avoid jeopardizing temporary Pro-Life riders in the state budget every session by exposure to weakening budget amendments or backroom deals.
  1.     Conscience protections for healthcare professionals

       SB 1107 by Senator Lois Kolkhorst and HB 2892 by Representative Tom Oliverson, M.D. 

  • Enacts clear protections and accommodations for healthcare workers who conscientiously object to training, procedures, or medical decisions that violate their consciences.
  • Establishes in law how health care facilities should accommodate all medical professionals when a conscientious objection is raised to non-elective medical interventions.
  • Ensures that all medical professionals, no matter their positions or credentials, are not discriminated against because of their religious or non-religious moral convictions.