Of the 95 Republicans in the Texas House only Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, has vowed to vote against the House abortion bill coming up for a vote this week.
"The kicker in the bill was the part that required any physicians performing an abortion to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic," Davis said. "The Texas Hospital Association has made it clear and testified last night that the hospitals would not actually credential any physicians in that manner, so the bill will effectively end all abortions in the state of Texas."
Davis said that action is unconstitutional and that already in the State of Texas, any abortion after 14 weeks is required to be performed at an ambulatory surgical and a vast majority of abortions are performed with a pill so the bill is also unnecessary.
Davis said though she is voting against the bill, which has nearly unanimous Republican support, she is still voting true to her Republican values.
"As a Republican I have always believed that our basic philosophies are personal freedom, individual responsibilities and the limited role of government and I believe that my votes are consistent with those principles," Davis said.
Davis said if the bill were to simply consist of a ban on abortions after 20 weeks with exceptions for medical reasons and in cases of rape and incest, she'd be willing to vote for the bill.
While Davis said her fellow Republican colleagues are not happy with her vote against the measure, they understand her need to represent her constituents in Houston's Medical District.
