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Instead of having just a few hours to act on the measure, this time around the Senate has the entire special session to pass the measure. Bill Miller is a political analyst based in Austin. He says the decorum will be different than the first special session.
“This debate will not occur on the last day of the special session, so they’ll give themselves ample time to finish debate. Secondly, DPS has made it clear by their presence, in terms of the number officers in the gallery that there will be no disruptions of any kind by anyone.”
It’s no secret that Governor Perry’s agenda stretches beyond the state.
“He’s speaking to Texans, but I think he’s really speaking to people in Iowa. It’s a Republican caucus state and the presidential cycle next time very pro-life, and he will be in Iowa early and he’ll be talking about this legislation as much as he can, and it will benefit them.”
As far as the legislation, HB 2 requires doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, and would allow abortions in surgical centers but prohibit the procedure after 20 weeks. Houston political analyst George Strong says he thinks the measure will pass this time around.
“There you have done away with the two-thirds rule that required two-thirds of the senators to vote to bring up an item for debate and, it’s pretty doubtful that any of the Republicans will vote against the bill, so we we will see a bill to the Governor’s desk probably in the next two weeks.”
Strong adds the controversial measure will likely be appealed in federal court.