TEXAS, USA — The lawmaker behind the Texas Heartbeat bill says he doesn’t see Texas moving in Alabama’s direction at all.
Alabama’s Supreme Court recently issued a highly controversial ruling that embryos are children.
It immediately raised concerns about the future of in vitro fertilization (IVF) not only in Alabama, but the rest of the country were other state Supreme Courts to follow suit.
Alabama lawmakers immediately filed a bill that would protect IVF access.
And state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, says the bill he wrote that effectively banned abortion in the state specifically protects IVF here in Texas.
“The heartbeat bill specifically exempts in vitro fertilization. So, I’m not sure about Alabama law, and I haven’t read that case, but Texas law is clear. In vitro fertilization is not covered by the heartbeat law, by abortion statutes in Texas,” Hughes stressed on Inside Texas Politics.
The Republican is also behind the state’s law that limits how social media companies can curate certain content. The lawmaker was in the nation’s capital as the Texas Solicitor General argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that the law should stand.
It would prevent social media companies from banning or even restricting some users based on their “viewpoints.” Many conservatives feel their voices are being silenced on certain platforms.
Florida has a similar law on the books and was also arguing before the justices.
But critics say the laws would force the platforms to carry hate speech, objectionable content, or a post that might incite violence.
They also argue the First Amendment also means the government can’t compel certain speech, or in this case, what information to disseminate.
But Sen. Hughes and others argue that social media companies are the new public square.
“They’re trying to cloak themselves in the first amendment when, ironically, they are the ones who were squelching first amendment speech,” said Hughes. “Just like your cell phone provider can’t cut you off because of your politics, the power company can’t deny you service because of your religion. These guys are common carriers. They’re the only game in town. That’s the new public square.”
But will the justices buy that argument?
Even though many observers say they appeared skeptical, Hughes says he’s optimistic after what he heard.
“Some of the Republican appointees seemed to like the bill, some didn’t. Some of the Democrats were on both sides. I think we’re going to win, at least initially, on the point they tried to block the whole law before there was even any kind of a trial. And that means they’ve got to show the law is unconstitutional in every possible application. They’re going to lose that,” Hughes argued.
We also asked the Mineola Republican if he was concerned about the election being accurate now that the state abandoned the national data-sharing program called ERIC, or the Electronic Registration Information Center.
Among its many responsibilities, ERIC keeps voter rolls clean by providing officials with reports that identify inaccurate or out-of-date voter registration records, deceased voters, individuals who appear to be eligible to vote but who are not yet registered, and possible cases of illegal voting.
Texas is obligated, by law, to join a multi-state, information-sharing network for elections.
Hughes tells us Texas and some other states are working together to build their own system, and something is currently in the works.
But he didn’t tell us which states are participating and if it will come anywhere close to the number of states using ERIC.
And there’s no firm timeline for when it will be up and running, with Hughes only telling us he’s optimistic a new system will be in place by the general election in November, but certainly by 2026.