Texas

A routine gesture of remembrance devolved into an ugly brawl on the Texas House floor Thursday, as hardline Republicans successfully blocked a memorial resolution honoring Cecile Richards, the late former president of Planned Parenthood and a Texas native. Richards died earlier this year.

Normally, memorial resolutions to honor Texans who have died are passed without controversy. They are usually the House’s quietest business: a list of names read aloud, a gavel strike, no partisan debate. But the resolution for Richards sparked a cascade of outrage from conservative accused their colleagues of “honoring a woman who perpetrated the murder of children.”

After a morning of protest and delays, Republicans appear to have won, for now. After a lengthy debate, the resolutions were being pulled from consideration for the day effectively torpedoing the entire slate of memorials, which included tributes to Mexican civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and Jill Glover, a local conservative activist who died last year from cancer. The calendar was withdrawn and returned to committee.

“WE WON!” Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Republican from Fort Worth posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Texas will never honor those who mass murder our unborn children!”

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/texas-house-cecile-richards-republicans-planned-parenthood/