TYLER (KYTX) -- Texas lawmakers are through with a bill aimed at cutting down on abortions. Now it's in the governor's hands. The so-called "sonogram" bill has been controversial since the beginning.
The bill started its life months ago, as Senate Bill 16, and it was divisive from day one.
"Maybe a 22 year old goes in there whose never seen one and goes 'wow, that's my baby! I want her to have that right to say 'wow,'" Senator Dan Patrick said during a hearing on the bill.
"Why we think the government should be involved in some of the most personal decisions of a woman is beyond me," Senator Jeff Wentworth said.
The Senate bill required women to view or hear a description of a sonogram at least two hours before having an abortion. Then, the House took up the issue as House Bill 15, and changed it to 24 hours before an abortion.
The bill also makes it possible for a doctor to lose his or her license for violating the potential law.
The state's effort to cut down on abortions has angered major organizations like Planned Parenthood, which says it's infringing on women's rights and cutting down on options for dealing with un-planned pregnancies.
"To characterize someone who comes in for abortion care as someone who hasn't really thought about it and say that this is about making her more informed is a gross mis-representation of it," Planned Parenthood's Holly Morgan said.
Morgan says the new limitations would substantially increase the cost of obtaining abortions, and strain the state's foster care system.
"To have a waiting period is good because we live in society which is a little rash sometimes," Tyler resident Elaine Allegretto said.
"These mothers to be ought to look at what they're killing as far as I'm concerned," Joe Nash said.
"I am absolutely against this," Marion Jackson said. "Women should be able to decide for themselves without any added pressure from the government. This is an intrusion of privacy."
Governor Perry is expected to sign the sonogram bill this week. It will then take thirty days for the new law to go into effect.
