By: stabahriti@insider.com (Sam Tabahriti)
Amy O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for Texas Alliance for Life, told the Dallas Morning News: “While the penal code in Texas recognizes an unborn child as a person in our state, the Texas transportation code does not specify the same. And a child residing in a mother’s womb is not taking up an extra seat. And with only one occupant taking up a seat, the car did not meet the criteria needed to drive in that lane.”
By: Dave Lieber
I asked Amy O’Donnell, spokeswoman for Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group, what she thought of this unusual situation.
She replied, “While the penal code in Texas recognizes an unborn child as a person in our state, the Texas Transportation Code does not specify the same. And a child residing in a mother’s womb is not taking up an extra seat. And with only one occupant taking up a seat, the car did not meet the criteria needed to drive in that lane.”
By: Dianne Solis and Wendy Selene Pérez
At the Texas Alliance for Life, executive director Joe Pojman said his group will push the issue further in the 2024 presidential elections. Mailing or using couriers to bring in misoprostol and mifepristone is illegal, but he doesn’t see extradition of a foreigner happening.
“It is still illegal,” Pojman said. “It’s still a felony offense. But there is no way to extradite someone from Mexico or the Netherlands to stand trial in Texas, unless the Biden administration takes action.”
Pojman doesn’t see that happening with the Biden team, given the president’s position on Roe vs. Wade.
By: BeLynn Hollers
Rhonda Kay Moreland
Board member of Texas Alliance for Life and chairman of the board of directors of BirthChoice Dallas Pregnancy Center
Q1: I think the very first thing that I want every woman to know is that I come from a place of love and non-judgment. And that I’m here to have a conversation and I’m trying to empower women, to understand what I’ve learned about what I understand is the truth of life. And I think that there’s no judgement to anybody who’s had an abortion. We all have a story, we all have a past, but our past doesn’t define us. And so I’m in the movement as much for the women as I am for the babies.
Q2: If I could do something with somebody who thinks opposite than me on the abortion issue, it would be connecting women towards resources for help. I think that is probably a great starting point, is just connecting women with assistance in all aspects of their life.
By: Monica Madden
Hours after the judge issued the temporary restraining order, Paxton announced he is “immediately appealing” the decision, in a post on Twitter.
“Today a Harris County judge froze pre-Roe laws criminalizing abortion in TX. But w/ SCOTUS’s Dobbs decision, these laws are 100% in effect & constitutional. The judge’s decision is wrong. I’m immediately appealing. I’ll ensure we have all the legal tools to keep TX pro-life!” Paxton tweeted.
Joe Pojman, the executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, echoed the attorney general’s sentiments and said he was not concerned about the legal action from providers hoping to block the pre-Roe law from being enforced.
“We think that is just a bump in the road and not a dead end for the pre-Roe laws. I think they will go back into effect in a matter of weeks and unborn babies will be protected,” Pojman said.
He noted that regardless of what happens with this case, the trigger law will still eventually kick in, banning the majority of abortions in Texas, 30 days after the Supreme Court issues a judgment for the Dobbs v. Jackson case.
The next hearing on this case is set for July 12, when the court will consider more permanent action.
By: ARIANA PEREZ-CASTELLS, ELEANOR KLIBANOFF AND ERIN DOUGLAS
Paul Linton, an attorney for the anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life, said he thought a higher court would soon vacate the temporary restraining order and that the pre-Roe abortion ban should stand.
“I don’t think it has any merit,” Linton said. “I don’t think there’s any plausible argument that the laws have been expressly repealed, and the repeal-by-implication argument, I think, is very weak.”