Fort Worth, Texas ? In a ceremony filled with religious references, Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill at a church school gymnasium Sunday that imposes more limits on late-term abortions and requires minors to get written parental consent for abortions.

The signing came as several hundred demonstrators – some of them opposed to the signing of a bill on church property – protested outside.

“It has been a tragedy of unspeakable consequences that for decades activist courts denied many Texas parents their right to be involved in one of the most important decisions their young daughter could ever make – whether to end the life that was growing inside her,” Perry told a crowd of about 1,000 people gathered at the Calvary Christian Academy. “For too long, a blind eye has been turned to the rights of our most vulnerable human beings – that’s the unborn in our society.”

During the 90-minute program, Perry also signed a resolution to amend the Texas Constitution by banning same-sex marriages. However, that signature was only ceremonial since voters must approve the proposed ban in November.

Texas already had a parental notification bill, approved in 1999. The new, tougher measure requires a parent to provide written consent for unmarried girls under 18. The bill also restricts doctors from performing abortions on women who have carried a child for more than 26 weeks unless having the baby would jeopardize the woman’s life or the baby has serious brain damage.

The ceremony brought out about 350 protesters carrying signs. They included opponents of the ban on same-sex marriage, including two with posters reading “Hate is not a family value” and “God values all families.”