AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Texas House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow pharmacists to dispense an antiparasitic drug, ivermectin, without needing a prescription from a doctor. House Bill 25 will now head to the Senate.

The bill did not pass with ease as Republicans and Democrats sparred publicly over medical freedom and public health. The conversation morphed from light-hearted horse puns to arguments on the House floor.

One Democratic House member tried to rename the bill the "Darwin Awards Act." State Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, explained the posthumous award to his colleagues who were not familiar. "It salutes the improvement of the human genome, honoring those who accidentally remove themselves from this world in a spectacular manner," Anchía said.

State Rep. Joan

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