© Jose Luis Magana / AP fileAnti-abortion activists protest outside the Supreme Court during the March for Life on Jan. 18.
Texas lawmakers are considering
a bill that would ban abortion in the state and charge women who have abortions with homicide, which can carry the death penalty in the state.
Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican, introduced the "Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act," or House Bill 896, in January to "protect the rights of an unborn child" but it was granted its first committee hearing on Monday and Tuesday.
Nearly 500 people testified, with 54 people testifying against the bill, according to
The Washington Post."A living human child, from the moment of fertilization on fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum, is entitled to the same rights, powers, and privileges as are secured or granted by the laws of this state to any other human child," the text of the bill reads.
Republican Rep. Matt Krause, who sits on the Texas House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence, which heard the bill, said in a
statement on Facebook before the hearing that it was "the first legislative hearing since 1973 on this topic."
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