{"id":6068,"date":"2016-12-05T20:25:01","date_gmt":"2016-12-05T20:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=6068"},"modified":"2016-12-16T20:26:18","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T20:26:18","slug":"texas-may-face-lawsuit-over-new-abortion-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=6068","title":{"rendered":"Texas May Face Lawsuit Over New Abortion Regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Texas<\/a>

Texas could face a lawsuit brought by advocates for women\u2019s reproductive rights over new state regulations set to go into effect mid-December. Photo: Twilight\/iStockphoto<\/p><\/div>\n

by Mark Richardson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas<\/strong> \u2013 Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have struck down several anti-abortion restrictions, but advocates for women\u2019s reproductive rights say some states, including Texas, still have onerous regulations on the books.<\/p>\n

Last week, lawsuits were filed in Alaska, Missouri and North Carolina challenging laws that impose abortion restrictions.<\/p>\n

And Texas may soon be on the list, over new regulations<\/a> about the disposal of fetal tissue.<\/p>\n

Yvonne Gutierrez, director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, says the requirement that a fetus be given a funeral is another roadblock for women.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is clearly another attempt to deceive and shame Texas women and block access to safe, legal abortion,\u201d she states. \u201cAnd these restrictions, as we know, do not protect people\u2019s health and safety \u2013 just the opposite, in fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The controversial rule, finalized last week by Texas regulators, will require that tissue from terminating a pregnancy either be cremated or buried by a licensed funeral facility.<\/p>\n

Gutierrez says the rule could add hundreds or thousands of dollars to an abortion, costs many women can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n

Backers have said the rule preserves \u201cthe dignity of the fetus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gutierrez says groups, including Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, are considering litigation to block the rule after it goes into effect Dec. 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Health and Human Services Department released this rule, and so, we are doing everything in our power to protect access to care, evaluating all of our options as they relate to any litigation,\u201d she stresses.<\/p>\n

While conservative lawmakers may view such regulations as political moves, Gutierrez says the rules do affect real people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese political attacks have very real, very devastating consequences,\u201d she states. \u201cTexas is fast becoming the cautionary tale for the rest of the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years, Texas has cut funds for women\u2019s health, and during that period, maternal mortality has doubled in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gutierrez also says she fears women\u2019s rights will be at risk in general with a Republican-controlled Congress and President-elect Donald Trump in the White House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Richardson AUSTIN, Texas \u2013 Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have struck down several anti-abortion restrictions, but advocates for women\u2019s reproductive rights say some states, including Texas, still have onerous regulations on the books. Last week, lawsuits were filed in Alaska, Missouri and North Carolina challenging laws that impose abortion restrictions. And Texas may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6070,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6068\/revisions\/6070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}