Texas legislature passes 2 critical bills during special session

July 19, 2021 Amber Coakley US 0

File – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a news conference in Austin, Texas. Texas Democrats are starting a second week of holing up in Washington to block new voting laws back home. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

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UPDATED 8:06 AM PT – Monday, July 19, 2021

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is holding a special legislative session to address a variety of issues important to Texans across the state. The special session began July 8 and legislators are set to debate matters, including bail reform, election integrity, border security, social media censorship and others. On Friday, the Texas Senate passed two measures involving abortion and critical race theory.

The upper chamber passed Senate Bill 3, in turn, reportedly stripping out a future requirement that students learn “white supremacy is morally wrong” while also expanding restrictions on how certain history topics are taught in schools. State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R) said its meant to be a “guardrail” against imposing “division and animosity” on students.

“We also will not let a small but growing number of activists use the blots on our history to justify this new regime of otherness on our children, we will not allow that,” he stated. “We will not teach our children, because of the past, that one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex, nor that someone due to their race or sex is inherently racist, or sexist, or oppressive. We will not teach those things.”

#SB3 has passed the Texas Senate making sure Texas children are taught that we should be judged by the content of character and not the color of skin. #txlege #CriticalRaceTheory

— Senator Bryan Hughes (@SenBryanHughes) July 16, 2021

The other measure, Senate Bill 4, would reportedly “ban medically induced abortions after about seven-weeks of pregnancy.” The vote came after Texas signed a measure into law back in ay that reportedly prohibits abortions as early as six-weeks.

The special session could last until August 8.

A plane pulls the message ‘Don’t Mess with Texas Voter Y’all’ over the Texas Capitol, Tuesday, July 13, 2021, in Austin, Texas. Texas Democrats left the state to block sweeping new election laws, while Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatened them with arrest the moment they return. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)