Bills to tighten abortion regulations advance in Texas, La.

Fort Worth Star Telegram/McClatchy: Sonogram Before Abortion Bill Moves To Texas House
As Texas senators gave final approval Tuesday to a bill requiring doctors to conduct sonograms before performing abortions, moving it closer to the governor's desk, a new fight is ramping up over another abortion-related bill. The new fight is over a bill that renews the Texas Women's Health Program, which many say provides crucial screenings and birth control to women who don't have insurance, but prevents Planned Parenthood — a family-planning organization under fire by abortion opponents because of its separate affiliate that provides abortions — from participating (Tinsley, 5/4).

The (New Orleans) Times Picayune: Abortion Bill Moves To House Floor; Would Modify 'Conscience Protection' For Health Care Professionals
The House Health & Welfare Committee, after a lengthy discussion, approved without dissent a bill framed as expanding the body of information that health care providers must give a woman before she terminates a pregnancy. Rep. Frank Hoffman, R-West Monroe, has titled House Bill 586 the "Forced Abortion Prevention Sign Act," pitching the requirement for a new state website and the posting of new signs at reproductive services clinics as a way to help women make "informed decisions" about how to handle a pregnancy (Barrow, 5/4).