The Texas State Senate has passed a sweeping, restrictive abortion bill even after Senator Wendy Davis filibustered a vote only weeks earlier.  Rick Perry is expected to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk.  Abortion rights activists in response, have promised a legal battle.  The new law will ban abortion after 20 weeks; will require abortion doctors to get admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and abortion clinics will be required to upgrade to surgical centers.  Finally, abortion-inducing pills can only be taken when in the presence of a physician which is completely contrary to why these pills were developed in the first place; safe abortions in the privacy of one’s home.  The Republican dominated Senate passed the law under the guise that it will improve the safety and standards of abortion clinics which is nonsense.  This ultra conservative body only wants to restrict or terminate a woman’s right to an abortion.  Pro Choice activists are vowing to challenge this bill on grounds that it violates Roe v Wade.  Incidentally, Jane Roe of Roe v Wade, which legalized abortion in the US in 1973, was from Texas.  The Fifth Circuit Court of appeals which has Texas under its jurisdiction has previously ruled in favor of restricting abortion rights which means this case may well make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.  But after 40 years, despite the conservative leaning of the U.S. Supreme Court, it is highly unlikely that it would overturn the history making decision.  It might not even agree to accept a challenge but the bill is clearly a violation of Roe v Wade.  One need not be a Constitutional scholar to understand that.  What’s so ironic about the this bill is that the state that executes the most human beings every year, is the same state that wants to protect life.  Since most abortions don’t involve loving, committed relationships, there could well be at least a few people who would be forced to be born, only to be executed in the great state of Texas.