The Texas House of Representatives has passed a bill that would ban doctors from performing abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

The bill also permits anyone to sue a doctor who performs abortions after that point, or anyone who assisted in the process.

“When a beating heart represents a life within a womb, we have a duty to protect that innocent unborn life,” Republican Rep. Shelby Slawson said on the House floor Wednesday.

Slawson also shared that her mother refused to have an abortion at the suggestion of a doctor who told her that Slawson would not develop normally.

“Now 44 years and two days later, that little baby girl is standing in this chamber. Her heart beating as strongly and as rapidly as it did all those years ago. As she lays out before you Senate Bill 8,” Rep. Slawson said.

Following her remarks, she was met with questions from Democratic lawmakers.

“I value life. My pregnancies, I was very grateful for my children and grandchildren, I’m very grateful for it, but it doesn’t always work that way for everybody,” Rep. Donna Howard, (D – Austin), began at the podium.

“According to the science, the Doppler fetal monitor that has that sound that you gave us a while ago, is not actually the sound of a heartbeat, but an amplified version of signals. You’re not hearing a heartbeat; you’re hearing an amplified version of electrical signals. Did you know that?” she asked Slawson.In response, the Republican lawmaker said she fundamentally disagreed with that assertion.

“Representative, I’ve had a lot of ultrasounds, and they never once referenced an electrical impulse. It was measured in beats per minute,” Rep. Slawson said.

“I’m just telling you what the science says. And I can’t say what you’ve been told. I’m telling you what the science is now,” Rep. Howard countered.

On Tuesday, a group of faith leaders rallied outside the South entrance of the state Capitol to protest SB 8 and other abortion-restricting measures.

“We may differ in our beliefs about when life begins. But we agree that once life begins, it should be preserved and protected to the greatest extent possible,” Rabbi Nancy Kasten of Dallas said, contending that the mother’s heartbeat matters as well.

Dallas Reverend Erika Forbes also opposed the legislation arguing that it would disproportionately affect women of color. Forbes, who was a teen when she was pregnant, got an abortion due to the fact that she lacked the resources needed to raise a child.

“I was that teenage girl,” she explained.” I didn’t find out I was pregnant until eight weeks in, and had I not had the opportunity to get the abortion that I deserve, that is my legal right, my life would have been decimated.”

Pro-life groups, however, shared that there are alternatives to abortions.

“We have more than 200 pro-life pregnancy resource centers, and all those services are free, and their goal is to make women have alternatives to abortion. Our goal is that no woman would seek an abortion because she has no alternatives,” Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, said Wednesday.

The following is from Pro Life Across America

  • 18 days from conception, heart begins to beat, with the baby’s own blood.
  • 28 days from conception a baby has eyes, ears, and even a tongue!
  • 28 days from conception: Muscles are developing along the future spine. Arms and legs are budding.
  • 30 days: Child has grown 10,000 times to 6-7mm (1/4”) long. Brain has human proportions. Blood flows in veins.
  • 42 days: Skeleton is formed. Brain coordinates movement of muscles and organs. Reflex responses have begun.
  • 42 days: Brain waves can be detected, the jaw forms, including teeth and taste buds. The unborn baby begins to swallow amniotic fluid. Fingers and toes are developing.
  • 45 days from conception: The unborn baby is making body movements, a full 12 weeks before the mother may notice such stirrings. By seven weeks the chest and abdomen are fully formed. Swimming with a natural swimmer’s stroke in the amniotic fluid, the baby now looks like a miniature human infant.
  • 44-45 days: Buds of milk teeth appear, and the unborn baby’s facial muscles develop. Eyelids begin to form, protecting the developing eyes. Elbows take shape. Internal organs are present, but immature. 99% of muscles are present, each with its own nerve supply.
  • 52 Days: Spontaneous movement begins. The unborn baby then develops a whole collection of moves over the next 4 weeks including hiccuping, frowning, squinting, furrowing the brow, pursing the lips, moving individual arms and legs, head turning, touching his/her face, breathing (without air), stretching, opening the mouth, yawning and sucking.                                                                                                                                                                                                                I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Psalms 139:14-16