Texas OKs Disputed Abortion Legislation

The nation acquainted itself with that new power dynamic last week, when 55 Democrats left the state and boycotted the Legislature. The maneuver kept the House from establishing a quorum, killing the GOP's attempt to redraw the state's congressional districts. The new maps could have allowed Republicans, in the 2004 election, to seize at least five seats currently held by Democrats.

"In past legislative sessions, conservative Republicans would introduce bills like this knowing there was no chance to get them through, because Democrats controlled the House. They would introduce them so they could say to their constituents that they made a good partisan try," said Cal Jillson, an independent, nonpartisan analyst and professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

The Republicans' newfound power in Texas, the nation's second-most populous state, comes with added responsibility, Jillson said -- a lesson that can be drawn from this bill, he argued. If Republicans go overboard because they are blinded by power it could blunt their long-term ability to advance their agenda, he said.

"In a sense, they have to be more careful because they can pass what they introduce," he said. "There will be a bright light shined on this bill. They should have left this very shaky connection out of the bill."

Joel Brind, a professor of biology and endocrinology at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York, is an outspoken proponent of the alleged link between abortion and breast cancer.

Brind, who said he is opposed to abortion, said Texas has merely corrected an "egregious wrong" -- the fact that clinics are not required to warn prospective patients about abortion and breast cancer.

"This is the kind of thing that is politically incorrect," he said. "It gets caught up in the whole abortion debate. I can see the Republicans saying, 'Now we are in the majority; now we have a chance to right a glaring and egregious wrong.' But how do you not do this? That would be anathema to anybody who got themselves into office with an honest concern to do some good for the people of Texas."