The Texas Senate made significant progress this week on protecting religious liberty and the unborn! Your voice made a difference with the Senate State Affairs Committee as it considered, and ultimately passed, the Freedom to Worship Act (SB 26) by Sen. Angela Paxton and a similar constitutional amendment (SJR 27) by Sen. Kelly Hancock.
Both of these bills will protect churches by prohibiting a government agency or official from limiting or having the effect of closing churches. As you very well know, the pandemic has demonstrated that churches are indeed susceptible to these attacks even in Texas.
As for protecting the unborn, yesterday 7 pro-life bills, including SB 8, the Texas Heartbeat Bill by Sen. Bryan Hughes, SB 650 by Sen. Donna Campbell, SB 1173 by Senator Kelly Hancock (PreNDA), and SB 394 by Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. were voted out of committee 7-2. Other pro-life bills passed include SB 9, SB 802, and SB 1647.
These bills provide protections for the unborn - SB 8 prohibits abortion at the detection of a heartbeat, SB 650 prohibits cities from using tax payer dollars to indirectly fund abortion, SB 1173 prohibits discriminatory abortions, and SB 394 helps stop the dangerous practice of chemical abortions.
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Members of the Texas Values Action team testified at both committee hearings, along with national pro-life leader Janet Porter, author of the original "Heartbeat bill" (pictured above).
We expect these religious liberty and pro-life bills to receive a vote on the Senate floor very soon - so please continue to take action with your Texas Legislators! The favorable passage of these bills to the Senate floor is a victory but it’s not over yet. Our laws reflect our values and so we must persistently reach out to our Legislators to ensure that these bills on our values of religious liberty and pro-life have crossed the finish line and signed into law.
Your efforts are impacting your government and sending a clear message that religious liberty and the lives of the unborn must be protected this legislative session. Please continue to partner with us to fight for faith, family, and freedom across Texas.
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