May 24, 2015      10:15 PM
Rep. Stickland and Chairman Cook nearly come to blows on the House floor
Stickland upset because SB 575 to ban abortion insurance coverage died in Calendars
Security
had to move to quickly to break up what almost became a fistfight on the Texas
House floor between Rep. Jonathan
Stickland, R-Bedford, and State Affairs Chairman
Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana.
Stickland was upset with Cook after a bill that would have
banned insurance coverage for abortion died in Calendars.
Earlier
in the day, Stickland had agreed to pull down a controversial
anti-abortion amendment during a discussion of a sunset bill. He had done so on
the condition that SB 575 to ban insurance coverage for abortion procedures get a
vote in the Calendars Committee. It
did get a vote but it was not placed on the calendar.
Per
Brian Rosenthal at the Houston
Chronicle, Cook said he had promised Stickland
that the bill would get a vote in Calendars, which it did receive. "You
gave me your word," Stickland yelled.
"My
commitment was to get the bill to Calendars,” Cook said. “What I can't do is
interfere with other members' ability to vote their conscience."
|