Attorney Peter Sgro, Jr., the author of Sen. Telena Nelson and Sen. Chris Duenas’s anti-abortion Bill No. 291, issued the following message to supporters of the legislation:
Hi Everyone:
I of course understand that for some emotions are high. You have all known me to keep all of us peaceful and focused. I have respectfully requested from all of you that it is so important to stick together, not attack anyone and really critical for all of us, that there become no distractions and stay focused.
I have been personally involved with the legislative process of public hearings for at least 30 years. And most of the time, the issues involved do not require the caution, care and organization like it involves with the heartbeat act.
I personally am very grateful to Speaker Terlaje and her staff. I have honestly have not seen a public hearing this organized and I applaud her and her staff. They too like us are human beings and deserve the same respect that we not only show to each other, but the same respect we all seek for the unborn.
And understand that for the Speaker, her work and the work of her staff has truly not even begun. They now have to take so much information and over weeks, have to reduce everything to a Committee Report. And it does not stop there. That report then has to go the Committee on Rules where the decision is made to then get the Bill out to the legislative floor for a vote.
So encourage everyone to respect the rules established since early last week. Consider the fact that just two weeks ago many of us were concerned that public hearings would not happen soon enough. To the contrary, the Speaker had not only scheduled the public hearings very timely, but also did not herself get distracted by requests not to have public hearings and instead hold round tables.
Let’s focus on the many of you that are going to testify at the legislature this afternoon and tonight. My sincere gratitude to all of you.
