Texas Abortion Opponents Lobby for Antiabortion Bills in the 2013 Session

November 26, 2012 —  Texas antiabortion-rights groups are pushing several antiabortion measures for the 2013 session, the Texas Tribune/New York Times reports.

Elizabeth Graham, director of Texas Right to Life, said she hopes Texas will become the 10th state to pass a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which is when some abortion-rights opponents claim a fetus can feel pain. Texas law prohibits abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy unless the health or the life of the woman is at risk or there are fetal abnormalities.

Meanwhile, Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, said his group's primary goal this session is to continue efforts to block Planned Parenthood and other clinics affiliated with abortion providers from participating in the state's Medicaid program (White/Aaronson, Texas Tribune/New York Times, 11/22).