On Representation in the Texas Legislature: Substantive Representation

In a prior post, I noted the distinction among several types or kinds of representation. In that post, I considered the degree to which each political party represents the people of Texas in the Texas legislature. In this post, I want to give you an idea of how I plan to approach substantive representation. As noted in the previous post, substantive representation involves the degree to which the representatives are like the people they represent in terms of public policy. In this post, I will examine one issue, enacted by the 82^nd Texas legislature.

As described by the House Research Organization, House Bill 15 requires each abortion provider to perform a sonogram on a woman seeking an abortion. The sonogram must be performed at least 24 hours before the abortion or two hours before the abortion if the woman lives at least 100 miles from the nearest abortion facility. The physician must provide verbal explanations of the images and the heart auscultation, which must be visible and audible to the woman. The woman may choose not to view the sonogram images or hear the heart auscultation. She may choose not to view the sonogram images or hear the heart auscultation. She may choose not to receive the verbal explanation of the images if she certifies that she is a victim of rape or incest or a minor receiving a judicial bypass for parental notification or if the fetus has an irreversible medical condition or abnormality. The Texas Medical Board must take appropriate disciplinary action against a physician, who violates these provisions, and must refuse to issue or renew a license.

The House considered HB 15 twice: the first time, on March 7, 2011, and the second time on May 5, 2011, during a special or called session. The bill originally died in the Senate because of a filibuster. The Senate passed the bill on May 3, 2011, during the special session.

In the House, the votes were similar on the two dates. In March, the House approved the bill on a 107 to 42 vote. One Hundred Republicans voted for the bill; only one Republican voted against the bill. Among Democrats, seven voted for the bill, and 41 voted against the bill. The speaker of the House did not vote, as is the custom. In May, the House approved the bill on a 94 to 41 vote. In the Senate vote in May, the bill passed 21 to 10. In that vote, 18 Republicans and 3 Democrats supported the bill, and 1 Republican and 9 Democrats opposed the bill.

What was public opinion in Texas on the issue of requiring sonograms during the same period? Again, there are two surveys, one in February 2011 and another in May 2011 that posed the same question about sonograms and listening to the heartbeat of the fetus. Here are the responses:

Question 22 in the February 2011 UT/Texas Tribune Poll of Registered Voters

Do you support or oppose passing a law requiring that doctors who perform abortions make available to pregnant women sonogram images of their fetuses, and have the women listen to the heartbeat of their fetus before they have an abortion?

Strongly Support	38 percent
Somewhat Support	16 percent
Somewhat Oppose	11 percent
Strongly Oppose	25 percent
Don’t Know	10 percent

A majority, 54 percent, support legislation requiring the sonogram and listening to the heartbeat, and 36 percent oppose legislation.

Question 23 in the May 2011 UT/Texas Tribune Poll

Do you support or oppose passing a law requiring that doctors who perform abortions

make available to pregnant women sonogram images of their fetuses, and have the women listen to the heartbeat of their fetus before they have an abortion?

Strongly Support	36 percent
Somewhat Support	14 percent
Somewhat Oppose	10 percent
Strongly Oppose	29 percent
Don’t Know	11 percent

By May, 2011, the support declined slightly so that a bare majority, 50 percent, supported the legislation, and 39 percent opposed the legislation.

Texas Lyceum Poll, May 24-31, 2011

The Texas legislature also passed into law a measure that requires doctors to conduct a sonogram prior to an abortion, and then show and discuss the picture with the woman. Do you support or oppose this measure?  

	All Texans	Likely Voters
Support	62 percent	58 percent
Oppose	37 percent	40 percent
Don’t Know	2 percent	2 percent

So, which party better represented the public’s opinion on the issue? The Republican members of the House were unified in support of the legislation. Of the 101 Republican members of the House who voted on the bill in March, 100 members supported the legislation (99 percent) and 1 member (1 percent) opposed the legislation. Of the 48 Democrats who voted on the legislation, 41 members (85 percent) opposed the legislation, and 7 members (15 percent) supported the legislation. An overwhelming majority of House Republicans did what the public preferred by voting for the legislation, and a substantial majority of House Democrats voted against the public’s preference in opposing the measure. In the Senate, 18 Republican senators (95 percent) supported the bill, and 1 Republican senator (5 percent) opposed the bill. Among the Senate’s Democrats, 3 senators (25 percent) supported the bill, and 9 senators (75 percent) opposed the bill. Thus, on this particular issue, Republicans better represented the majority opinion of the public by supporting the bill.

In future posts, I’ll consider other issues and each political party’s votes on the issue.