State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford.

Saying the Capitol is “not a college dormitory,” the Texas House’s top rules enforcer took to the floor Thursday morning to explain his decision to take down signs identifying some members as former fetuses.

“The halls of this building are sacred to all of us, and we should treat them this way,” said state Rep. Charlie Geren, the Fort Worth Republican who chairs the House Administration Committee. 

Geren reiterated that rules from the State Preservation Board prohibit signage on the walls of the Capitol building. He said signs may be understandable in some cases, like Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson closing his office as a result of his wife’s death.

The anti-abortion Texas Right to Life had worked with some members to produce the signs and let the legislators decide how they wanted to display them. The effort was timed to coincide with Planned Parenthood’s Lobby Day. 

State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, on Wednesday accused Geren of intimidating his staff by removing the sign outside his office. Geren disputed Stickland’s account and suggested the Bedford Republican was “acting like a child.”

Disclosure: Planned Parenthood was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2011. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here. 

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Patrick Svitek was the primary political correspondent for The Texas Tribune. Patrick covered elections, state leaders, the Legislature and political trends across the state from 2015 until 2024. He previously...

Eva Hershaw was a legislative reporter covering agricultural, environmental and general policy for The Texas Tribune in 2015. In the two years before arriving at the Tribune, she worked as a freelance...