Texas Too Timid Against Abortion? Conservatives Divided on Whether GOP Could Have Advocated Near-ban

AUSTIN — Social conservatives have dinged ruling Texas Republicans for being too timid about abortion — especially after another state moved this week to provoke a showdown over the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing the procedure.In the Capitol, Granbury Rep. Mike Lang, the GOP chair of the House’s 10-member Texas Freedom Caucus, said he was disappointed Texas hasn’t aligned with states where Republicans have pushed through legislation nearly banning abortion.“I would like to have seen more done,” Lang said.Luke Macias, a consultant to far-right candidates, said in an email that Texas “has never been able to lead when it comes to protecting the unborn.”He called the Capitol’s “Big Three” — Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Dennis Bonnen — the “major bottleneck” for such action.Abbott did not call for a ban and the single ban bill filed in the Senate, overseen by Patrick, did not get heard. Meanwhile, a proposed House ban drew a hearing but then died absent further action. Also, Bonnen referred a bill forbidding abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected to languish in a Democrat-chaired panel.  Continue reading...

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