(CNSNews.com) - During the House floor debate on the Protect Life Act last week, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D- Texas) defended abortion as a “needed action” and referred to the heartbeat of a fetus as a “sound”.
Voicing her opposition to the measure on Thursday, Jackson Lee referenced a previous Texas law, “Just as the courts ruled unconstitutional and upheld the provision of the Texas law that required a doctor to talk first to a woman seeking an abortion and to allow or force them both to listen, uh, to sounds that, uh, might discourage this needed action, this is going to be held unconstitutional. This is not a law that can pass,” Jackson said.
The ‘sounds’ Jackson Lee refers to are heartbeats that doctors and women hear during a sonogram.
Despite the Texas congresswoman’s efforts the Protect Life Act did pass the house as 15 House Democrats joined 236 House Republicans to pass the measure.
The legislation amends the Democrats’ Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to prohibit federal funds from being spent on any health plan that includes coverage of abortion services.
The bill also provides conscience protections for health care workers who oppose abortion.