On Monday, two committees of the Republican Party of Texas Convention convened and began the diligent process of establishing the recommended rules, platform, and legislative priorities of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT). After Pro-Life activists from around the state rallied to tell their local Republican leaders to support strong Pro-Life Resolutions and Legislative Priorities, two Committees delivered temporary but significant Pro-Life victories for Texas.
Texas Right to Life joined the grassroots movement in calling for the adoption of two critical Pro-Life initiatives: endorsing the Preborn NonDiscrimination Act (PreNDA) in the list of Legislative Priorities and adding strong language in the Platform calling on the Legislature to repeal the draconian “Ten Day Law” in the Texas Advance Directives Act (TADA).
PreNDA would protect preborn children from discriminatory abortions based on race, sex, or suspected disability. Moreover, PreNDA would eliminate discriminatory loopholes currently existing in Texas law while providing information on life-affirming social and medical services, such as perinatal palliative care, to parents whose child may have a lethal condition.
Repealing the unethical, anti-Life “Ten Day Law” would protect vulnerable patients from the unprecedented and unconstitutional process in Texas law that currently allows physicians to deny patients basic life-sustaining treatment that they have requested.
Plank 88 of the 2016 RPT Platform states that “All innocent human life must be respected and safeguarded from fertilization until natural death.” Although this is important language, the fact that Texas law does not live up to this Pro-Life principle even after years of Republican leadership calls attention to the need for more specific language. Both PreNDA and TADA reform seek to protect innocent human lives that are systematically neglected by discriminatory elective abortions and anti-Life quality-of-life ethics in healthcare.
Texas Right to Life testified on, provided materials for, and assisted the Platform and Legislative Priorities committees as they considered and debated both Pro-Life policies in both the temporary and permanent committees. After four days of deliberations, the Platform committee included both issues in the proposed 2018 RPT Platform. Also, the Legislative Priorities endorsed PreNDA as an RPT legislative priority for the upcoming Session of the 86th Legislature. The clear support for these two Pro-Life policies sends a strong message that Texas Republicans demand that the Legislature must protect all innocent Texans. Texas Right to Life commends the members of both committees for endorsing these Pro-Life priority resolutions.
Delegates at the RPT State Convention will now consider the Pro-Life measures in the proposed Platform and the proposed Legislative Priorities in a full Convention Session. On Saturday, close to 9,000 RPT Delegates will review and vote on the documents and whether they specifically approve of the Pro-Life language. Texans who want our state laws to truly represent their uncompromising Pro-Life convictions should urge their local Republican leaders to support the new Pro-Life Platform and Legislative Priority language.
Stay tuned to www.TexasRightToLife.com for updates and results from the RPT General Session on Saturday.