Senator Paxton Files Five Human Dignity Bills to Start the 88th Legislative Session

Senator Angela Paxton kisses her granddaughter’s forehead during her swearing in ceremony on the Senate Floor.

SB 410 - Fetal Development Curriculum

SB 410 makes fetal development instruction a permanent component of the curriculum taught in Texas public schools beyond just inclusion in the current TEKS review cycle. A human being begins its life and development at conception while still in the womb, and thus excluding fetal development from the health curriculum shortchanges Texas students from fully understanding the human development process.

SB 411 - Pregnancy-Related Resources in Student Health Centers

 SB 411 provides pregnancy-related information resources in college campus student health centers to empower pregnant college students with factual information regarding pregnancy, their unborn child, and resources available to them as they begin to navigate what may be one of the most stressful situations they have yet faced.

SB 412 - Pregnant and Parenting Students' Bill of Rights

Federal law prohibits discrimination against pregnant and parenting college students and requires the provision of pregnancy-related accommodations. By improving student and faculty awareness of pregnant and parenting college students' rights, SB 412 seeks to ensure that these students receive the accommodations and protections to which they are entitled to eliminate unnecessary and illegal barriers to these students' college education, and in turn empower pregnant and parenting college students to stay in college and finish their degrees.

SB 459 - Priority Registration for Parenting Students

SB 459 grants student-parents access to course registration prior to the general student population so that they can ensure that their class schedules align with the hours they have access to childcare. By reducing one of the additional barriers to academic success faced by student-parents, this bill will help student-parents stay in college and finish their degrees, which helps better set up their families for success, and ultimately benefits the Texas economy.

SB 417 - Relating to electronic device filters for certain explicit material; creating a criminal offense; providing a civil penalty

SB 417 helps protect children from accessing harmful materials on devices by establishing a filter requirement and enforcement mechanisms which manufacturers must follow. The decision to use device filtering remains the choice of the parent or guardian as this bill simply put the onus on the manufacturer to activate filter to more seamless facilitate the protection of minors from explicit material which has grown more prevalent on the internet.