AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Senate Health and Human Services committee has inserted a poison pill into the women’s health program.
The measure would kill the program if an organization that provides abortions were to receive any state money to provide birth control or cancer screenings.
State Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville), a family physician, said that in the past, groups that provide
abortions have won lawsuits to receive state funding. He said to make sure no group that provides abortions gets the chance to receive state money to provide birth control, the bill would automatically shut down the program is such a group won in court.
The Republican-backed bill targets Planned Parenthood. The organization currently receives state funding to provide poor women with health services, angering conservatives. None of that money is
spent on abortions.