TX Lawmaker Files Bill To Criminalize Abortion, Aims To Fulfill Trump’s Roe V. Wade Pledge

Representative Tony Tinderholt’s Proposal Would Remove Immunity For Procedure Under Homicide Laws

President-elect Donald Trump has said he’ll appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, and this week a tea party Texas lawmaker filed a bill he hopes will eventually serve as the impetus for such a ruling. 

The “Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act,” from GOP Representative Tony Tinderholt, would grant embryos the same rights as humans, criminalizing abortion at any stage by removing immunity for the procedure in the state’s homicide laws, the Austin Chronicle reports. House Bill 948, which directs state officials to ignore any conflicting federal laws, makes exceptions for when a mother’s life is at risk, but not for rape or fetal abnormality. 

“If this becomes law it could absolutely be challenged by the Supreme Court and that would be a challenge we would go forth with,” Tinderholt spokesman Luke Macias told the Chronicle. “Rep. Tinderholt would tell you Texans can decide, and the Legislature can decide if every human should be protected. We shouldn’t have to ask permission from any court system along the way.”

Tinderholt’s bill is one of more than a dozen anti-choice measures filed in Texas this year. But it is considered the most extreme abortion measure introduced in the Legislature since a 2007 bill from then-Senator Dan Patrick (who’s currently spearheading an anti-transgender campaign as lieutenant governor under the guise of women’s privacy.)

Tinderholt last made national headlines two years ago when he filed an ethics complaint after an Austin judge issued a marriage license to a same-sex couple prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Tinderholt was widely lampooned for attempting to protect the sanctity of marriage when he’s been divorced four times. He also botched the ethics complaint and filed it against the wrong judge. 

Tinderholt is currently married to his fifth wife, Bethany, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader (pictured with her husband) and fellow anti-abortion crusader. 

Tinderholt’s contact info is below. If you’d like to reach out to other Texas lawmakers about Tinderholt’s proposal, Patrick’s anti-trans bathroom bill or any other legislation, you can find their info here. 

Tony Tinderholt
Room E1.422
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
(512) 463-0624
tony@tonytinderholt.com
Facebook.com/tonytinderholtfortexas/