Portable Abortion Bans – The latest from Greg and Ken

HB7 – Another needless abortion ban. Shellie Hayes-McMahon, Executive Director testified today in front of the House State Affairs Committee

Chairman King and committee members my name is Shellie Hayes-McMahon and I am here to speak in opposition to HB 7 – another piece of legislation aimed at further restricting access to a medical protocol that has been proven safe and effective and used with a 97.4% success rate by over 4 million women, trans and non-binary people since the year 2000 according to the FDA. At no point in pregnancy is anyone on the dais more qualified to make decisions about our health and access to care than a patient and their health care provider.

I am disappointed that once again, this body is seeking to legislate personal religious preferences and beliefs,  playing politics with Texans’ lives, and wasting time on redundant and unnecessary legislation rather than focusing on what our communities really need. 

While this bill may pass over the objections of thousands of Texans, I would challenge you to use the morality you claim guides you in restricting the freedom of Texans to make their own medical decisions about their bodies and point that compass towards what our communities need: 

1. A robust healthcare safety net – including the comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care provided by Planned Parenthood in Texas and across the country. 
2. Lowering the rates of uninsured in Texas – Between 21.6% to 21.7% of Texans are uninsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund and the Census Bureau, this is the highest in the nation. With that, Texas is ranked first nationally for having the highest percentage of uninsured residents.
3. Reducing the rates of maternal and infant mortality, Texas continues to possess an increasing rate of maternal mortality. Between 2019 to 2022, Texas’s maternal mortality rate rose by 56% – compared to 11% nationwide. Between 35 and 51 women died per 100,000 births between 2020 and 2022. Texas was ranked as one of the worst states for women’s health and maternal care access. Infant mortality also continues to rise, making Texas possess a 12.9% increase in infant deaths – compared to a 1.88% increase nationally. 
4. Age-appropriate, comprehensive, and medically-accurate sex ed – { After 15 years of decline, teen pregnancy rates began to rise for the first time in 2022. According to a Healthy Futures of Texas report from 2024, the Texas teen birth rate is now 50% higher than the national average. Picture this: a baby is born to a teen mom every 25 minutes in Texas, and everyday and a half, a baby is born to a girl in Texas between the ages of 10 and 14 years old.}

We are in the midst of multiple man-made crises – all stemming from an unconscionable ban on abortion in Texas – a ban without exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal diagnoses. 

It is clear that Governor Abbott and indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton, and everyone supporting this bill will stop at nothing, no matter how cruel or unconstitutional, to trap Texans into forced pregnancy.”