Texas Set To Pass New Abortion Restrictions
AUSTIN AP) - A sweeping new anti-abortion bill in Texas that includes a provision already blocked by federal courts is heading to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
The bill approved Friday by the state Senate is the Legislature's response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer striking down Texas' 2013 law that prompted more than half the state's abortion clinics to close.
The new laws would include a ban on a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation. Courts have blocked similar bans in Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas and Louisiana.
Republican state Sen. Charles Schwertner says the threat of court challenges shouldn't deter the Legislature from passing laws that are "necessary, proper and right."
Abbott is expected to sign the law. The legislative session ends Monday.
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