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On the eve of Mother’s Day, the Texas House offered a gift to moms across the state: unfettered access to car pool lanes.
The House passed a bill allowing a woman who is “pregnant or is a parent or legal guardian” to drive in high occupancy vehicle lanes, regardless of the number of people in the car.
“When I say this is a gift to our mothers in Texas, I really do mean that,” Rep. Jeff Leach, the Plano Republican who authored the bill, said on the House floor. “This is a step in the right direction when it comes to elevating and supporting mothers across the state.”
The path to this proposal began back in July 2022, just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Brandy Bottone, of Plano, was driving in an HOV lane when she got pulled over. The police officer gave her a ticket even though she was 34 weeks pregnant at the time; she argued that under Texas’ new abortion law, there were two people in the car.
The story went viral, raising questions about the state’s uneven laws around when life begins. It’s a conversation welcomed by some conservatives, who would like to see a wider acceptance in state statute that life begins at the moment of conception, not just in abortion policy but across criminal and civil laws. This would allow parents to claim a fetus as a dependent on their tax documents, or women to try to get child support during pregnancy.
But this concept, known as “fetal personhood,” opens the door to more complicated legal questions. For example, if a fetus has the same rights as a living, breathing person, can a woman who uses drugs during pregnancy be charged with child endangerment?
“You could potentially be guilty of manslaughter or murder if you had a miscarriage and weren’t taking proper precautions,” Kimberley Harris, a professor at Texas Tech University School of Law, told The Texas Tribune in 2022.
Alabama passed a constitutional amendment endowing fetuses with a wide range of rights, and since then, at least 20 women who used drugs and miscarried have been prosecuted under a law intending to protect children from dangers of home meth labs.
These widespread fetal personhood proposals haven’t yet gained traction in Texas. But Leach, a staunch abortion opponent, took up Bottone’s small protest last session, proposing a bill saying pregnant women should be allowed to drive in the HOV lane. The bill stalled out, but he filed it again this session.
Leach said the bill “elevates motherhood” and aligns with the legislature’s ongoing efforts to “promote a culture of life.” He said it would be a benefit for pregnant women going to work, picking up their kids, going to the grocery store — at which point Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, pointed out that these are things all mothers do, not just the ones who are currently pregnant.
Amid applause and cheering from the chamber and the gallery, Leach said he’d welcome an amendment expanding the bill to cover a wider swath of the population.
“I think HOV lanes are stupid anyway,” he said.
Rep. Gina Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat, filed the amendment to say, “a female operator of a motor vehicle who is pregnant or is a parent or legal guardian of another person” can use an HOV lane regardless of the number of people in the car. Leach happily accepted.
How will police officers verify someone’s parental or pregnancy status when they pull them over? Leach said on the floor that he hopes a police officer who hears someone cite this exception will just send them on their way without getting into the specifics. Hinojosa said if it came to it, they could bring proof of pregnancy or parenting status to court to get the case dismissed.
In an interview, Hinojosa said Democrats have a “philosophical” disagreement with Republicans about the fetal personhood questions, but on the practical side, Leach “offered up an opportunity, and so we took it.”
She knows this isn’t a seachange for mothers. She’d love to see the Legislature take up reducing child care costs, strengthening public school and expanding health care access.
“We don’t do nearly enough to help families,” she said. “So when we have a chance to do something, we take it.”
The bill will now speed over to the Senate for consideration.
Disclosure: Texas Tech University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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