The Other Davis in the Texas Legislature

I know; there are three other members named Davis in the Texas legislature. Nevertheless, the real question is why did Sarah Davis get such a liberal ranking in the 83^rd Legislature, according to the Lib-Con IDEAL score calculated by Mark Jones, Rice University?

To explore this anomaly, I went to the Vote Smart Web site. Here are her votes in the 83^rd Legislature on important issues:

July 10, 2013	HB 2	Increases Abortion Facility Requirements and Prohibits Abortions After 20 Weeks	Bill Passed - House (96 - 49)	Nay
June 24, 2013	SB 5	Increases Abortion Facility Requirements and Prohibits Abortions After 20 Weeks	Bill Passed - House (95 - 34)	Nay
June 21, 2013	SB 2	State Senate Redistricting	Bill Passed - House (109 - 30)	Yea
June 21, 2013	SB 3	State House Redistricting	Bill Passed - House (93 - 46)	Yea
June 21, 2013	SB 4	Congressional Redistricting	Bill Passed - House (93 - 47)	Yea
May 25, 2013	SB 1	2013-2015 Biennium Budget	Conference Report Adopted - House (118 - 29)	Yea
May 24, 2013	HB 950	Requires Equal Pay for Women	Concurrence Vote Passed - House (78 - 61)	Yea
May 22, 2013	SB 21	Requires Drug Testing for Unemployment Benefits	Bill Passed - House (104 - 42)	Yea
May 15, 2013	SJR 13	Establishes Term Limits For Certain Elected Officials	Joint Resolution Failed - House (61 - 80)	Nay
May 10, 2013	HB 1340	Authorizes Immunization of Minors Without Parental Consent	Bill Passed - House (71 - 61)	Yea
May 9, 2013	SB 376	Establishes a Free Breakfast Program for Students	Bill Passed - House (73 - 58)	Nay
May 8, 2013	HB 500	Extends the Franchise Tax Exemption for Certain Businesses	Bill Passed - House (117 - 24)	Yea
May 7, 2013	HB 928	Prohibits State Funds from Being Used for the Enforcement of Federal Firearm Regulations	Bill Passed - House (101 - 31)	Yea
May 6, 2013	HB 1009	Establishes School Marshals	Bill Passed - House (123 - 22)	Yea
May 6, 2013	HB 1076	Prohibits the Enforcement of Federal Firearm Regulations	Bill Passed - House (100 - 47)	Yea
May 6, 2013	HB 972	Authorizes Concealed Handguns on Higher Education Campuses	Bill Passed - House (102 - 41)	Yea
May 6, 2013	SB 864	Reduces Required Hours for Concealed Handgun License Training	Bill Passed - House (116 - 30)	Yea
May 4, 2013	HB 852	Prohibits the Sale of Shark Fins	Bill Passed - House (87 - 42)	Yea
May 3, 2013	HB 318	Prohibits Employers from Asking for Private Passwords	Bill Passed - House (79 - 64)	Nay
May 2, 2013	HB 772	Requires Individuals to Opt-Out of Immunization Registry	Bill Passed - House (99 - 47)	Yea
May 1, 2013	HB 489	Expands Access to Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD	Bill Passed - House (120 - 21)	Yea
April 26, 2013	HB 148	Prohibits Multiple Ballots from Being Turned in by 1 Individual	Bill Passed - House (93 - 48)	Yea
April 18, 2013	HB 63	Prohibits Texting While Driving	Bill Passed - House (97 - 45)	Nay
Feb. 5, 2013	HB 950	Requires Equal Pay for Women	House	Sponsor
Feb. 1, 2013	HB 912	Limits the Private Use of Unmanned Aircrafts	House	Co-sponsor

There is no doubt in my mind that she earned her Lib-Con IDEAL score as a result of the following votes and sponsored bills: equal pay for women and on abortion. Otherwise, her votes are conservative. To answer critics of her vote on HB 2 during a special session, she wrote the followng op-ed for the Houston Chronicle:

The omnibus abortion bill has serious problems. Part of the omnibus bill bans all abortions after 20 weeks gestation. Let me be clear: A five-month ban, with exceptions of life and health of the mother, severe fetal abnormality, and in cases of rape and/or incest, is very reasonable. However, many House Republicans rejected my effort to add these important exceptions when I offered them as an amendment. Without such exceptions, the ban is likely to be unconstitutional, and it has been deemed such by other courts.

Another component of the bill requires all abortions be performed in ambulatory surgical centers. This appears reasonable, except that the result would be the closure of all but six facilities. It already is state law that abortions performed at 16 weeks or later must be performed in ambulatory surgical centers.

A significant number of abortions are induced with oral medication only. Why make a women enter a surgical suite to receive pills? It is an incredible misuse of medical resources that drives up the cost of care and leads to delays, which drive up the risks associated with the procedure.

Many Republicans, including me, have consistently opposed Obamacare because of its intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship. Yet, the omnibus abortion legislation is precisely the same thing: the government sticking its reach into the doctor's office.

Further, the bill requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. On its face, this requirement also sounds reasonable except that in the exceedingly rare event that a complication after an abortion requires hospital-based care, a woman would be provided emergency care at any hospital she chooses and admission privileges at that hospital have no impact on a woman's ability to receive high-quality, timely care. We also cannot ignore the testimony from The Texas Hospital Association that its members would not grant such admitting privileges. Ultimately, this requirement, too, will serve to make the omnibus bill likely unconstitutional, as no physician will be able to obtain the required and unnecessary admitting privileges.

Although I have the deepest respect for those who are so passionate on both sides of the abortion issue, I believe, at its core, the Republican Party stands for personal freedom, which is lost when government controls our lives.

I cannot support government dictating to us where and how we obtain health care, or how much of our income the government thinks is fair to confiscate and redistribute to others. And I cannot support government dictating how responsible women deal with the very personal issue of forced, unhealthy or unwanted pregnancies prior to viability.

She preceded her justification for her vote on the abortion bill with a statement of her political philosophy:

As a proud Republican, I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person's dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

Personal freedom and limited government are the foundation of my political philosophy. I believe the proper role of government is to provide only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs least.

To me, she’s undoubtedly a conservative. The question is: Will being the only Republican in the Texas House to vote against the Omnibus Abortion Bill earn her a Tea Party challenger in the 2014 Republican primary election? My guess is that it will. What do you think?