Bill of the Week

House Bill 1109

Filed: Feb. 3, 2011; referred to House State Affairs Committee Feb. 28

Author: Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center

The Legislature's perennial bid to define the moment that life begins has again been filed, this time by Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, with the backing of his House buds Reps. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, and Dan Flynn, R-Van. According to the trio (along with co-author Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington), life begins at conception – or, more specifically, "at the moment that the initial splitting of a human cell occurs during fertilization." Must be nice to be so sure about things, eh? This bill is problematic for any number of reasons. Let's start with the obvious: Defining life's inception at cell splitting is an obvious attack on the reproductive rights of all women, and it seeks to create a wedge between the conservative-right view of things and the way existing law views such matters. Indeed, the bill would grant the split cell all the "rights, protections, and privileges accorded to any other person in this state." Of course, the rights and privileges enjoyed by those of us outside the womb aren't anything to brag about these days: Cuts to health care and education, just to name a few, mean those protections and privileges are decidedly dwindling. And if that split cell happens to turn into a female, well, then we know exactly what our Texas lawmakers think about her rights. Not much at all, apparently. At press time, the bill had not yet been set for hearing.