By: Molly Hennessy-Fiske
“It’s really a question of when are you paying for this care: preventive or after she gives birth and ends up in the emergency department? From our point of view, this is a wise investment, both financially and morally,” Seago said.
Texas Alliance for Life, the state’s other large antiabortion group, had not taken a position on postpartum Medicaid expansion, but its board was still considering the measure, said spokeswoman Amy O’Donnell.
By: Charlie Butts
While she acknowledges that some women are going out of state for abortions, Amy O’Donnell of Texas Alliance for Life points out that real help is freely available to those who are choosing life for their babies.
O’Donnell, Amy (Texas Alliance for Life)O’Donnell
“We need to educate women about the vast resources we have available to them in Texas so that they know that there is help, that there is support, and that they don’t have to walk through an unplanned pregnancy on their own,” O’Donnell tells AFN.
As the state legislature goes into session early next month, she asserts that pro-lifers will “work to keep the gains that we’ve made and prevent our law from being weakened or abolished.”
“We’ll also continue to promote the expansion of the vast resources that Texas offers to women facing planned or unplanned pregnancies,” O’Donnell adds.
A bill has been introduced for a constitutional amendment to undo all of the state’s pro-life laws, and O’Donnell recalls a headline declaring that Texans would not even have a chance to vote on it.
By: FAITH BUGENHAGEN
Although these pills have been FDA-regulated since the early 2000s and are declared safe to use, anti-abortion leaders would like to see even this method of abortion stopped.
Amy O’Donnell, a public policy team member of Texas Alliance for Life, supported legislation that placed restrictions on the access and usage of abortion pills. According to her, this medication could pose significant health complications. “I would imagine that the more women become aware of the risks the more we will see those numbers drop,” O’Donnell said.
After these restrictions were passed which included banning use of abortion pills seven months into pregnancy, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated that the measures taken by the Legislature stemmed from scientifically unsupported claims.
For Texas women who want abortions, unless they can get mail order pills delivered to them undetected at their homes, travel is their only option.
By: Rebekah Alvey
Anti-abortion rights candidates kept control in most Nov. 8 races across the state. Republicans maintained their strong majority in the Legislature, top statewide offices remained red and the Texas delegation in the U.S. House saw all Republican incumbents and some newcomers in the GOP win.
“It shows that the pro-life message works in Texas,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. “It shows that Texas remains a pro-life state.”
Pojman said his organization was pleased with the results of the U.S. House races, and was glad to see at least one of the three anti-abortion South Texas candidates win. He added the results both for the U.S. House and state Legislature races indicate the Rio Grande Valley area appears to be an area of expansion for the anti-abortion movement.
There were some victories among candidates supporting abortion rights as 51 of those endorsed by Planned Parenthood Texas Votes won their races.
By: CHARLOTTE SCOTT
As written, the bill would not require a pregnant person to file a police report or provide forensic evidence. Alvarado said it’s because many women don’t report abuse in the first place. But since no record would be required to obtain an abortion, anti-abortion advocates see this as a way to create a loophole so any woman could have the procedure.
“Women could claim rape or assault or incest where, in fact, that has not happened. And it creates a potential loophole in an exception that we don’t support that would allow women to lie to receive abortions. We would hope that no woman would do that, but it does leave that door open,” said Amy O’Donnell, the director of communications for Texas Alliance for Life.
Seth Chandler, a law professor at the University of Houston, said this is where the legal waters get murky.
nti-abortion advocates don’t want to see a sexual assault exemption added to the abortion law.
“We believe that it’s wrong to discriminate against anyone based on how they came into being. And even with that beginning story, that child is still deserving of life, and so we will not support that,” O’Donnell said.
Even though most abortions are illegal in Texas, Hagstrom Miller stressed that there’s still a big need for it.
“Just because you ban abortion, it doesn’t change the need for abortion,” she said. “An abortion ban doesn’t prevent people from still needing abortions in the state of Texas. It just prevents people from getting that care from trained medical professionals. And I think that’s what we have to remember as we try to assist people in our communities that really need access to the safe, essential medical care that is abortion.”
Some Republicans have said there might need to be an exception to the abortion law for sexual assault, but it’s unlikely that abortion will become legal again next year.
By: CHARLOTTE SCOTT
As written, the bill would not require a pregnant person to file a police report or provide forensic evidence. Alvarado said it’s because many women don’t report abuse in the first place. But since no record would be required to obtain an abortion, anti-abortion advocates see this as a way to create a loophole so any woman could have the procedure.
“Women could claim rape or assault or incest where, in fact, that has not happened. And it creates a potential loophole in an exception that we don’t support that would allow women to lie to receive abortions. We would hope that no woman would do that, but it does leave that door open,” said Amy O’Donnell, the director of communications for Texas Alliance for Life.
Seth Chandler, a law professor at the University of Houston, said this is where the legal waters get murky.
“Without any proof that the sexual assault occurred, in the sense of not having to file a police report or have a criminal prosecution for the assault, again, I suspect that pro-life forces are going to object to that on grounds that basically all that has to happen is for the woman to allege that the sex was nonconsensual and therefore constitutes an assault,” Chandler said. “And so I think when people get down to the nuts and bolts of trying to define these exceptions, there’s going to be quite a battle.”