GOP Texas Sen. Robert Nichols says he’ll vote to support rape exceptions

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Republican state Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville stated Friday that he’d support a change to Texas’ abortion legal guidelines to enable victims of rape to legally get hold of the process.

“If I get a chance to vote for an exception to rape, I will vote yes,” the East Texas senator stated throughout a panel of Republican lawmakers on the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival. “I think instead of us telling women what to do, we should show our support for women of this state.”

Nichols is likely one of the first anti-abortion lawmakers to say he would support loosening the abortion legal guidelines when lawmakers meet in January.

Texas has one of many nation’s most restrictive abortion legal guidelines, which went into impact after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — the landmark case that established the authorized proper to an abortion. Under Texas regulation, abortions are prohibited in nearly all instances, together with rape and incest, and are allowed solely to save the lifetime of the pregnant individual.

Texas is competing in opposition to personal corporations who’re prepared to bus their workers out of state for “pregnancy care,” stated Nichols. “And what are we doing?”

At the least, Nichols stated, the state ought to present a minimal of 4 weeks of paid maternity depart for state workers.

Nichols self-identifies as “pro-life” and has voted in favor of the state’s abortion legal guidelines, together with the “fetal heartbeat” regulation that went into impact final September. The regulation prohibited most abortions after an ultrasound may detect cardiac exercise in a embryo, about six weeks right into a being pregnant. Nichols’ workplace didn’t instantly reply to questions on whether or not the senator would support another exceptions to the abortion regulation, equivalent to for incest.

Public polling shows that Texans overwhelmingly support exceptions for each rape and incest, with solely 13% and 11%, respectively, saying pregnant folks shouldn’t be ready to get hold of abortions in these instances.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan also signaled an openness at the Festival on Friday to reexamining exceptions to Texas’ abortion regulation. Also from East Texas, Phelan stated he was unlikely to personally support such exceptions however that some members of his caucus have stated they might need to revisit the matter.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has stated in earlier interviews that the abortion difficulty appeared settled.

The Texas Tribune Festival is right here! Happening Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, this 12 months’s TribFest options greater than 25 digital conversations with visitors like Eric Adams, Pete Souza, Jason Kander and plenty of others. After they air for ticket holders, anybody can watch these occasions on the Tribune’s Festival news page. Catch up on the newest news and free sessions from TribFest.