Texas Abortionists Trying to Expand The Number of State-Funded Abortions.(Brief Article)

The right of the state of Texas to limit the number of abortions paid for by taxpayer money is at the heart of a case heard by the Texas Supreme Court November 28. Currently, Texas pays only for those abortions approved by the federal Medicaid program, limited by the Hyde Amendment to rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

State senators and representatives signed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the supreme court to uphold the intent of legislators to restrict the types of abortions covered by the state. "Having failed to persuade the legislature to fund abortions, abortion advocates have now turned to the courts in an effort to subvert the democratic will," the brief states. "That effort should be resisted."

Texas abortionists, represented by the New York-based Center for Law and Reproductive Policy, first filed suit in 1993 in an attempt to overturn the law limiting tax-funded abortions, the Austin American-Statesman reported. They asserted that the law discriminates against women seeking "medically necessary" abortions--for reasons of "health," which the U.S. Supreme Court has defined in very broad terms--because men receive Medicaid funding for all procedures that are "medically necessary."

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Boyd argued to the supreme court that the state's approach does not single out women for discrimination, according to the Dallas Morning News. Boyd added that the law reflects the legitimate choice of legislators to favor childbirth rather than abortion.

"What this is really about is whether the Texas Constitution requires the legislature to spend tax dollars on abortion," ...