15. Representative Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) offered an amendment to SB 541 to give legislators a second opportunity to require insurance companies to cover contraception just like they cover Viagra. The amendment was tabled 77-44. A pro-choice vote (“P”) was a vote against tabling the amendment. (5/26/03)

16. “DeFund Planned Parenthood” rider by Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan). This budget “rider”(Rider 8) to the appropriations bill cuts funding for family planning clinics that provide abortion services or contract with or provide funds to individuals or entities that perform abortion procedures. The result is a $13 million loss to six Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas, including facilities in Austin, Waco, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Midland/Odessa, affecting an estimated 115,000 patients. The amendment was added in the Senate Finance Committee by a vote of 10-5 on 4/15/03 and maintained in Conference Committee by a vote of 6-4 on 5/22/03. Gov. Perry signed this bill into law on 6/22/03. A pro-choice vote (“P”) was a vote to protect family planning funding. Please note: Six Planned Parenthood affiliates are challenging this bill in a suit brought to court on June 26, 2003. On August 4, the Planned Parenthoods won a preliminary injunction that suspended implementation of the ban on funding.

17. “Choose Life” amendment by Rep. Arlene Wohlegmuth (R- Burleson). This amendment (Amendment 13) to SB 1704 authorized the state to issue “Choose Life” license plates. Funds garnered from the sale of these license plates would have gone to “crisis pregnancy centers,” fake clinics without medical professionals that frequently use misinformation and intimidation to discourage women from exercising their constitutional right to choose abortion. Fortunately, this bill died in the House on 5/25/03 after many failed attempts to amend it. Rep. Michael Villareal (D-San Antonio) offered an amendment to substitute “Adopt-a-Child” license plates for “Choose Life” plates with proceeds going to the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange, an agency that matches special needs children with adoptive and foster care parents. Rep. Villareal’s amendment was tabled 96-33. A pro-choice vote (“P”) was a vote against tabling the amendment. (5/25/03)

18. Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) offered an amendment to make the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange, an agency that matches special needs children with adoptive and foster care parents, eligible for funds garnered from the sale of “Choose Life” plates. The amendment was tabled 91-40. A pro-choice vote (“P”) was a vote against tabling the amendment. (5/25/03)

19. Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) offered another amendment to enable crisis pregnancy centers to receive funds garnered from the sale of “Choose Life” license plates if they are also a licensed child-placing agency. The amendment was tabled 89-41. A pro-choice vote (“P”) was a vote against tabling the amendment. (5/25/03)

20. “Who Helped Jane Doe?” bill by Sen. Kenneth Brimer (R-Fort Worth). SB 331 requires the state to collect data on outcomes of teens seeking judicial bypasses to Texas’ parental notification requirement for an abortion. The courts’ rulings would be made public, adding political controversy to judicial elections. Judges could be targeted for following the guidelines of the Texas Parental Notification law and weighing a case on its merits rather than following a political ideology which views all abortions unnecessary, regardless of the reasons the teen is seeking a judicial bypass and an abortion. While this bill died in the House, SB 331 passed the Senate 21-9. A pro-choice vote (“P”) was a vote against the bill. (4/23/03)

21. Senator Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio/Austin) offered an amendment to SB 331 to ensure the privacy of the individual court rulings and requiring the data be collected on a statewide basis to protect judges from being politically targeted for following the law, rather than an anti-choice viewpoint. The amendment was defeated 9-21. A pro-choice vote (“P”) was a vote for the amendment. (4/23/03)