House Passes Sonogram Bill

The Texas House easily passed a controversial sonogram/abortion bill on 3rd reading today.  The bill now goes back to the Senate.  Senators there can either agree with the House changes to the bill or ask for a House/Senate conference committee to hammer out the differences.  The committee is the most likely route.  The bill would require all women to view a sonogram and hear the fetus heartbeat before having an abortion.

There have been some debates over whether or not those sonograms will increase the cost of an abortion and whether or not the state will have to foot the bill.  But that's not expected to derail the measure from making it to the governor's desk.  Governor Rick Perry made the bill an emergency item earlier in the legislative session.  That allows the bill to by-pass some constitutional timelines for how soon a bill can be voted on during the session.