FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Tom Hargis, Director of Communications, ACLU of Texas, 832.291.4776, [email protected]

Austin – Below is a statement from Terri Burke, executive director for the ACLU of Texas, on the State Affairs Committee Hearings on House Bill 2, taking place July 2, 2013, at the Texas State Capitol. The proposed legislation would ban abortions after 20 weeks, place medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers, and close nearly all abortion clinics in Texas.

“I am deeply concerned that the State Affairs Committee is cutting short the debate and depriving the people of Texas the ability to state their views on legislation that strips the constitutional rights of more than half the Texas population,” said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas. “Cutting short the public input because you don't want a public record of the opposition to this bill is cowardly. We have seen too much of this type of railroading already. This behavior is opposed to democracy.”

Last week, a bipartisan poll showed that the majority of Texans oppose the anti-abortion legislation. A link to the poll may be found here.