House Committee on State Affairs

Testimony in Opposition to HB 3994

Submitted on Behalf of Trust Respect Access Coalition
By NARAL Pro-Choice Texas
April 22, 2015
Dear Chairman Cook and members of the House State Affairs Committee:
I am here today to testify on behalf of Trust Respect Access, a broad coalition
of diverse organizations working to support policies that restore trust in
Texans to make their own reproductive health care decisions, respect for
health care professionals, and access to safe, timely abortion care. We are
opposed to HB 3994.
HB 3994 would negatively impact the most vulnerable populations in Texas
as it significantly rewrites existing judicial bypass law . The current law was
carefully crafted by a bipartisan effort to provide a safety net judicial
bypass that works to protect the most vulnerable teenagers in our state
and ensure a teens constitutional rights are protected. The law works and
does not need revision.
The Texas judicial bypass procedure works as a safety net for teenagers
whose parents cannot or will not support them and should not be amended.
These cases are rare. In 2012, 68,298 abortions were performed in Texas, but
only 2.7% were on minors. Of those, only a few hundred sought a judicial
bypass.
Many of the teenagers who seek a bypass are living in the worst possible
circumstances, having already been failed by state family planning policies
and by their familys circumstances. Janes Due Process reports that of the
youth they assist in the bypass process, 39% do not live with a parent
because of death, incarceration, deportation, or abandonment. More than
half of Janes Due Process clients have parents who abuse them or would kick
their daughter out of the house if they found out she was pregnant. Imposing
additional barriers between these young people and the health care they
need would be cruel and unconstitutional.
The changes in HB 3994 are burdensome and could seriously threaten the
safety of very vulnerable teenagers. Taken together, the elements of HB
3994 are a de facto ban on abortion for the most vulnerable young people:
survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault, homeless youth, human
trafficking survivors and orphans.

HB 3994 endangers judges by outing those who hear these sensitive cases.
We must trust our judges to decide whether a bypass should be granted
given the confidential facts presented in an individual case.
HB 3394 unconstitutionally rewrites the grounds for a bypass, apparently
eliminating maturity as an independent ground as Bellotti v. Baird requires.
The bill limits venue, which threatens the confidentiality of teenagers
especially throughout rural Texas. Additionally, HB 3994 repeals the states
duty to pay court costs and fees. The bill also drags out the time frame of the
process, which given lack of access to healthcare imposed by HB 2 and other
medically unnecessary abortion restrictions in Texas likely violates the
requirement that a bypass be expeditious.
The supporters of HB 3994 complain about secret abortions and judicial
proceedings. But the secret to existing bypass law is the constitutionally
required confidentiality of the proceedings. Abused minors need current law
to stay safe. There is no loophole in current law. The Texas bypass law
simply conforms with the Constitution.
In addition, HB 3994 is an abortion ID bill, requiring women of all ages to
supply a government issued identification in order to access abortion care.
This requirement once again unduly burdens the most vulnerable Texans. For
example, what about someone who has had to flee domestic abuse or who
has lost all their belongings in a fire? Why should their access to safe and
legal health care hinge on a government-issued ID when other health
services do not require a government-issued ID? Her access to safe and legal
health care should not hinge on this.
HB 3994 contains many provisions that create insurmountable hurdles to
accessing the courts and abortion care. For these reasons we oppose the bill.
Respectfully,
Heather Busby
Executive Director, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas
On behalf of the Trust Respect Access Coalition
ACLU of Texas
Planned Parenthood
Texas Freedom Network
Whole Womans Health

NARAL Pro-Choice Texas

Texas Research Institute
National Latina Institute for Reproductive
Health
Janes Due Process, Inc.