FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Tom Hargis, Director of Communications, ACLU of Texas, [email protected], 773.484.7871 (cell)
AUSTIN — The Senate gave preliminary approval today to a bill intended to block the most vulnerable teens from accessing abortion. Current law recognizes the compelling reasons some young persons cannot notify and seek their parents’s consent for an abortion; it permits those young women to go before a judge for approval. HB 3994 puts several additional obstacles in the way of teens seeking judicial approval and jeopardizes the confidentiality of the judicial proceedings. The bill also requires all women seeking abortion care to provide proof of identity, a measure likely to disproportionately affect poor and undocumented women.
"The young women who seek judicial bypass are often victims of abuse, neglect and sex trafficking, and extremists in the Texas legislature are about to make their lives even harder," said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas. "This bill is designed to hurt vulnerable women, and that is exactly what it will do. The Senate even refused to make important exceptions for young women who are the victims of incest, sexual assault or family violence, proving that the bill is more about politics than protecting or trusting Texas women."
Medical experts who oppose mandating parental involvement in such circumstances include the American Medical Association and American Public Health Association due to the potential for negative consequences, such as delaying abortions and discouraging minors from seeking medical care and advice.
“HB 3994 deliberately counters physicians' medical expertise by jeopardizing a young woman’s confidentiality and threatening to further delay or block her completely from access to safe abortion,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO and founder of Whole Woman's Health, an abortion care provider.
Groups including the ACLU of Texas, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, Shift, Texas Freedom Network, and Texas Research Institute oppose this bill.
TRUST. RESPECT. ACCESS. is a multi-year campaign supporting policies that restore trust in Texans to make their own reproductive health care decisions, respect for health care professionals, and access to safe, timely abortion care. Organizations working together on this campaign include ACLU of Texas, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, Texas Freedom Network, Texas Research Institute, and Whole Woman’s Health.
