TAL Update 12/26/08

 

 

 

AUSTIN -- In a Capitol news conference on December 18, Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave Texas a special Christmas present by announcing his support for House Bill 109, a bill to create the Choose Life license plate in Texas to promote adoption as an alternative to abortion. The Governor's Press Conference Room was jam-packed, with dozens of supporters in attendance. (Watch the news conference online!) The bill will be considered when the Legislature convenes in January.

"I am here today to endorse an effort that will allow Texans to support the humane choice of adoption," Gov. Perry said. "The majority of Texans believe in the sanctity of life, and this license plate will give them a means to tell the world in a subtle but meaningful way, while providing support to pregnant women making the decision to choose adoption."

The governor was joined by Rep. Larry Phillips (R-Sherman) who will sponsor the bill in the Texas House of Representatives and Joe Pojman, Ph.D., executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.

"It is our sincere hope that we all can come together on this issue, and bring House Bill 109 to the Governor's desk for his signature," said Pojman. "We owe it to the birth mothers, the adoptive parents, and especially the babies who will be helped when the Choose Life license plates become a reality in Texas."

Members of various pro-life organizations attended the news conference. Those included Act of Life (an adoption awareness organization), Austin Pregnancy Resource Center, Concerned Women for America of Texas, and the Diocese of Austin Office of Pro-Life Activities and Chaste Living, Free Market Foundation, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, Hope Pregnancy Center of Hutto, and The Gabriel Project. Also attending were mothers who have placed their babies for adoption, adoptive parents, and adopted children.

At least 15 media outlets were represented at the event. 

For more information about how to help pass H.B. 109, visit www.TXChoose-Life.org. (Check out Latest News & Updates for our blog.) We especially need help promoting the "Petition for Choose Life License Plate" by circulating copies with friends, family, and members of your church and by forwarding the online version to pro-life email lists. Click -HERE-.

 

Pro-life voters enjoyed a very big win in a special election to fill a vacancy in Texas Senate District 17. Pro-life Joan Huffman handily defeated pro-abortion candidate Chris Bell 56 - 44% -- an impressive 12 percentage point margin. The district includes southwest Harris County and parts of Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, and Jefferson counties. The election fills a vacancy created when the incumbent Senator Kyle Janek stepped down last summer, before his term expires in 2010.

"I have my supporters and thousands of families (in the district) who believe in, I think, public service rather than politics as usual," Huffman told the Houston Chronicle. "And I am going to work from sunup to sundown to serve those families."

Chris Bell, a former Congressman from Harris County, received the endorsement and more than $14,000 in campaign contributions from Planned Parenthood, which runs that state's largest chain of abortion facilities. He campaigned abortion rights and tax funding for embryonic stem cell research.

"Huffman's win shows that a candidate who supports the pro-life positions on abortion and stem cell research can win decisively," said Joe Pojman, Ph.D., TAL's executive director. "This win was not an accident, and it was not easy. The pro-life vote, generated with the help of Texas Alliance for Life PAC, gave Huffman a strong margin of victory."