His proposal sheds light on how the termination of abortion will lead to a new stage — not the end of the procedure — fighting in Texas. Lawmakers pushing for trade rules have indicated they plan to act aggressively in the next legislative session. But it remains to be seen whether they can get a majority in their favour.

Members led by Brisco Cain, R-Dear Park laid out their plans in a letter to Life CEO Logan Greene that went public on Wednesday.

Green caught the attention of lawmakers on April 29, when he said on twitter That the ride-share company will help pregnant residents of Oklahoma and Texas seek abortion care in other states. Green also promised to cover the legal costs of any Lyft driver prosecuted under Senate Bill 8, a Texas law that gives private citizens the right to sue anyone who assists in the purchase of an abortion. Is.

“If you do not immediately rescind your recently announced policy to pay for travel expenses for women who have aborted their unborn children, the state of Texas will take prompt and decisive action,” the letter said.

The letter also outlines other legislative priorities, including allowing Texas shareholders of publicly traded companies to sue officials for paying abortion care, as well as allowing district attorneys to seek abortions outside their home county. empowered to prosecute offenses relating to

Six of the 14 signatories, including Cain, are members of the far-right Texas Freedom Caucus. How much political support these proposals have in the Republican caucus is unclear. House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, declined to comment. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Governor Greg Abbott did not respond.

As the legislative session is more than seven months away, Cain said in an email that “the letter can hardly be said to have been prepared and sent quickly enough to reflect the pulse of my Republican colleagues.” However, he was confident that his ideas would find some support in the Senate.

“Knowing that chamber and its leadership, I am prepared to bet that legislation targeting this issue will be filed immediately in January,” Cain said.

But doing so would likely mean targeting companies that the state has lured in as potential job creators. For example, Tesla announced this month that it would pay employees’ travel costs when they leave the state to have an abortion. Abbott celebrated the electric car company’s move to Austin last year and this year urged its CEO, Elon Musk, to To move Twitter’s headquarters to TexasAlso, if he completes his purchase of the social media firm.

Florida State University professor Mary Ziegler, who has authored a book on abortion law in the United States, said Republican politicians would have to tread more carefully on abortion politics if Roe v. Wade falls. Whereas in the past, lawmakers could pass any number of abortion restrictions that were bound to be abolished by the courts, that backstop would no longer exist.

Ziegler said a broad conservative coalition wants to ban abortion in Texas, but there is disagreement over how to enforce the relevant criminal laws or attempt to prevent pregnant residents from leaving the state for the procedure. Therefore, Republican politicians have an incentive to remain silent on the issue until they can determine which action is most politically prudent.

“It’s not easy being a Republican now,” Ziegler said. “Before, everyone was like, ‘Yeah, let’s get rid of Roe v. Wade.’ Now, if you can do whatever you want, what is it that you want to do?”

Lyft did not respond to a request for comment. Several other large companies, including Amazon, Uber and Starbucks, have also said they will help employees or customers seek abortion care outside Texas. No one responded to requests for comment.

The concerns of the business community helped lead to a push by Republican lawmakers in the 2017 session to introduce the so-called bathroom bill, which would require people to use facilities based on their given gender at or near the time of their birth. corresponds to. Moderate Speaker Joe Strauss, R-San Antonio, rejected Patrick’s requests to prioritize the bill.

State Representative Donna Howard, D-Austin, said that although Strauss is retired, she hopes a coalition of Democrats and centrist Republicans will form to block abortion-related laws that impose new restrictions on businesses.

Howard said of Strauss’s tenure, “there were opportunities for business-minded Republicans and business-minded Democrats to come together and stop these kinds of extreme policies.” “I hope this happens again. … We are here at a critical point of doing serious damage that will be hard to undo.

The Texas Association of Business, Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives and the Greater Houston Partnership either declined to comment or did not respond to questions about abortion-ban proposals in the Republican’s letter.

Disclosure: The Greater Houston Partnership, Lyft and the Texas Association of Businesses have been financial backers of the Texas Tribune, a non-profit, nonpartisan news organization funded partly by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. goes. Financial backers play no role in Tribune,s journalism. Find their full list here.

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