AUSTIN, Texas -- A Texas state senator proposed a plan to pay pregnant women for choosing adoption over abortion, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

State Sen. Dan Patrick said his bill would provide $500 as an incentive to forgo abortion.

The bill has met with some criticism as to how the payments would be viewed.

Opponents of the bill said the payments would be viewed as baby-selling or coercion.

The idea of paying women to choose adoption oversimplifies the decision women face, critics said.

According to Texas state law, it is illegal to offer anything of value to another person for acquiring a child for purposes of adoption.

Patrick disputes the idea that the payments would be seen as baby-selling. He said the babies would still have to go through the normal adoption process.

A hearing for the bill in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee has not yet been scheduled.