Texas Senate passes bill requiring pre-abortion counseling by third party
Recently, the Texas Senate voted 20-10 to approve a bill that would require women seeking elective abortion to receive counseling at someplace other than an abortion facility before undergoing an abortion. Senate Bill 2243 received support from two Democrats in addition to the Senate Republicans.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the bill’s author, Senator Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), said that the legislation was intended “to provide support to women when they go through the decision-making process for perhaps one of the most challenging things that they’ll face their entire lives.” The counseling would include screening for abortion coercion, human trafficking, and family violence. It would cost an estimated $1.9 million to be paid out of the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program.
Paxton, who was adopted, told the story of a woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy who was scared and unsure of her future. She said, “I know this story because this woman was my birth mother.” Paxton added, “And we can only imagine how many women go through a similar circumstance.”
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Former abortion facility workers have revealed that the pre-abortion counseling women receive at abortion facilities is often biased, lacking information, or outright manipulative and coercive. One former abortion worker wrote, “I was told in no uncertain terms to always validate the mother’s reasons for having the abortion.”
According to some studies, 79% of women who underwent abortion said they were not told of available alternatives. The counseling requirement passed by the Texas Senate is an attempt to connect women with resources of which they might not otherwise be aware. While pro-abortion activists call themselves “pro-choice,” they typically oppose efforts to require counseling or other informed consent measures prior to women seeking elective abortion.
Editor’s Note: Women who desire to learn about pregnancy options available to them in their local areas may visit OptionLine.
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