‘A crisis moment’: States, advocates brace for new fight over abortion rights | NBC News

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By: Chloe Atkins

In Texas, where Republicans control the Legislature and the governorship, lawmakers have filed a flurry of bills to prohibit access. One measure, HB 69, would outlaw abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy except when the woman’s life is at risk. Current state law prohibits abortions after 20 weeks.

Texas legislators are also considering a so-called trigger law, which would ban abortion if the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade. At least 10 states have passed similar measures, including Arkansas, Kentucky and Louisiana.

“Folks are feeling emboldened,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life. “There is general optimism that something can get done, and the legislators want to show the world that they are pro-life.”

Texas Senate panel weighs banning abortion in 2021 | Austin American Statesman

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By: Chuck Lindell

Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, testified that his organization will be pushing the Human Life Protection Act, which would set “a complete ban on abortion beginning at fertilization” if allowed by the Supreme Court.

If the high court chisels away at abortion rights, perhaps by approving Mississippi’s currently challenged law ending abortion at 15 weeks, the act would implement the 15-week ban in Texas, Pojman said.

“Texas needs a law to ban abortions to the extent allowable,” he told the committee.

Until the Supreme Court acts, heartbeat bills and other legislation to severely limit when abortions are allowed will continue to be overturned by lower courts, “saving no lives,” Pojman said.

Statehouse Seats Are Up for Grabs, and With Them, Great Power | The New York Times

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By: Sabrina Tavernise

Abortion is another example. Joe Pojman, the executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, said his organization was focused not just on helping Mr. Trump win the state, but also on the down-ballot races for the Texas House, which Democrats hope to flip.

If that happens, Mr. Pojman said, “it would be very difficult to advance our agenda.”

One goal, he said, is a “trigger law” that would ban abortion in the state if and when Roe v. Wade is overturned. The new composition of the Supreme Court is seen as having made such a reversal more of a possibility, and similar bills have passed in other Republican-controlled states.

The fight over Texas’ abortion ban during the COVID-19 pandemic is over, but what did it all mean?

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By: Maria Mendez

Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups say state leaders, who are beginning to reopen the economy, had a legitimate interest in protecting public health.

“We’re really grateful to the governor for issuing these executive orders that have been intended to protect the public and the medical providers serving the public,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance For Life.

TEXAS ENDS EMERGENCY BAN ON ELECTIVE ABORTIONS, BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN | Catholic News Agency

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By: Catholic News Agency

In an April 24 video, Texas Alliance for Life director Joe Pojman praised the delay on elective surgeries as “decisive action” to delay the spread of the coronavirus and part of “a strategy that has worked.”

Pojman cited Texas’ relatively low COVID-19 rates compared to large states and its hospitals’ continued capacity to treat patients.

As of Friday afternoon, there were over 22,800 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Texas, including over 590 deaths. About 9,000 people are estimated to have recovered, statistics from the Texas Department of Health said.

“We believe Gov. Abbott’s actions have protected the public and especially health care workers from the coronavirus,” Pojman said. He stressed the importance of Fifth Circuit Court’s order to “delay all abortions, surgical and drug induced, except for the handful that would not be possible to delay.”

“Meanwhile many abortion providers appeared to violate that order and performed a number of abortions across Texas, when those should have been delayed,” Pojman added. “We are addressing that issue now.”