Abbott Requests Federal Medicaid Exemption For Texas Healthy Women Program | Texas Public Radio Network

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By: Ryan Poppe

Gov. Greg Abbott appealed to the Trump administration Tuesday for federal money to help fund the state’s Healthy Texas Women’s program. The Obama administration in 2013 withheld the money when the state blocked abortion facilities like Planned Parenthood from those funds.

Abbott’s office submitted what’s known as a federal 1115 waiver, which, if approved, would allow the state — through a 90-10 matching grant — to receive and re-distribute federal Medicaid dollars to facilities that do not provide abortion services.

The Healthy Texas Women program was created in 2013 as a way for the governor’s office to fund obstetric and gynecological clinics that did not provide abortion care, like the Institute for Women’s Health in San Antonio, which provide OB-GYN exams and screenings.

The program’s chief operations officer Susan Griffith said the program allows low-income women to not only afford these services but also have follow-up care.

“You know the lower income population won’t seek health care because they cannot afford it,” Griffith said. “… With women, this can lead to lots of issues, including prenatal problems. … So with this program, we are able to offer those services and make sure they are staying on top of their health needs”.

The Trump administration decided that the “freedom of choice” provision under Medicaid would not be permitted, allowing states like Texas to exclude Planned Parenthood and other facilities providing abortion services from receiving federal Medicaid funding.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, a national organization that advocates for women’s access to abortion services, estimates that Texas serves 44,000 fewer women since Planned Parenthood was excluded from the program.

Yvonne Gutierrez, the executive director for the advocacy group Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, said the change had negative health consequences for Texas women.

“We have seen what has happened in Texas when you are banning Planned Parenthood from being able to provide care: Women are losing access to care,” Gutierrez said.

But Joe Pojman, executive director for the Texas Alliance for Life, said the state’s taxpayers should not be forced to fund facilities that perform abortions.

“We don’t think that they should be funded through tens of millions of our tax dollars, and they should not be the ambassadors of that program and promote abortion to low-income women,” Pojman said.

Abortion rights advocates believe if the Trump administration approves the governor’s request, it will likely result in a federal lawsuit.

Democrats’ abortion debate: Can a ‘personally pro-life’ man be a contender? | San Antonio Express News

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By: Peggy Fikac

For those whose life’s work is opposing abortion, White’s position doesn’t make a sale.

“We don’t consider him one of our own,” said Joe Pojman, founder and executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. “To us, it’s about supporting policies… that protect unborn children and their mothers from abortion. That’s certainly not what he wants to do.”

The governor’s race is important not only because of legislation that can be approved under current law, but because states will be able to set their own policies and even ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court at some point has the votes to reverse Roe v Wade.

“We will need a governor who will sign that legislation. And that’s why the governor’s office is of paramount importance to us,” said Pojman. Abbott, a Republican and staunch abortion opponent, is keynoting the Texas Rally for Life at the Capitol Saturday.

Texas House candidate says probation for pipe bomb stems from blowing up tree stumps

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By: Patrick Svitek

The primary challenger to state Rep. J.D. Sheffield, R-Gatesville, pleaded guilty in 2001 to making a pipe bomb — but he says he meant no harm and wants to change the laws that led to his legal troubles.

“Growing up, I blew up tree stumps recreationally,” Sheffield’s opponent, Chris Evans, said in a statement Thursday to the Tribune that also included a promise to voters in House District 59. “After I become a legislator, I’m going to get rid of dumb laws that hassle country kids who aren’t hurting anyone.”

. . .

In November, Evans won the endorsement of the anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life, which has long been sharply critical of Sheffield. (Two other anti-abortion groups – Texas Alliance for Life and Life PAC, the political arm of the Texans for Life Coalition – have endorsed Sheffield.) Evans’ campaign began ramping up last month, when he announced he was bringing on board two new staffers.

First elected in 2012, Sheffield has previously fended off challengers from his right. He defeated his 2016 primary opponent, Brent Graves, by 23 percentage points.

Pro-life advocates may need to play waiting game | Cleburne Times-Review

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By: John Austin

Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, acknowledged that the pro-life movement’s ultimate goal is to roll back Rowe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.

“The question,” Pojman said, “is what’s the best way to do it.”

In Texas, a 2013 state law mandated heightened standards on clinics and imposed restrictions on where doctors could perform abortions.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 overturned the law, which shuttered about half of the state’s abortion facilities.

“We’ve made huge gains” in Texas, where 21 abortion centers now remain open, Pojman said. “But abortion does remain legal.”

Pro-life advocates may need to play waiting game | Athens Daily Review

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By: John Austin

AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers earlier this year outlawed what some term “dismemberment abortions,” but a recent legal ruling held the statute unconstitutional, saying it unduly burdens pregnant women.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is appealing the federal district court’s decision, saying in a statement that “abortion by dismemberment kills fetuses by tearing them limb from limb while they are still alive, causing the unborn victim to bleed to death.”

There’s no arguing that states have an interest in protecting human life, but opponents of banning the second-trimester abortion procedure, commonly called dilation and evacuation, say the mother’s right to safely end a pregnancy trumps the government’s interest when the fetus is not yet viable.

Although federal courts in other states have halted enforcement of similar statutes, pro-life advocates continue pressing to limit or end legal abortions altogether.

“It is part of a bigger nationwide strategy to limit access to abortion,” said Blake Rocap, legislative counsel for NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. “This is a bill that’s been passed in other states and in every state it’s been struck down.”

Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, acknowledged that the pro-life movement’s ultimate goal is to roll back Rowe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.

“The question,” Pojman said, “is what’s the best way to do it.”