AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A bill that would ban Texas’ capital city of Austin from continuing to lease a downtown building to Planned Parenthood for $1 is almost to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
Texas has passed some of the nation’s strictest abortion laws this decade. Democrats say the bill would reduce access to women’s health care and fought the bill for more than eight hours before it passed Friday night in the GOP-controlled House.
Texas has let other states take on bigger anti-abortion battles this year. That includes Alabama’s new abortion ban and efforts elsewhere that prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
An unusually rough election for Texas Republicans in 2018 has led to a relatively milder legislative session.
Another bill close to Abbott’s desk threatens doctors with jail time if they don’t try saving the lives of infants born alive after failed abortion attempts. But such cases are extremely rare.
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