By: SHANNON NAJMABADI
Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group said he’s hopeful the Supreme Court will finish the job of fully banning abortions.
“While the goal of the pro-life movement remains the complete protection of all unborn babies from abortion, the terrible Supreme Court precedent under Roe v. Wade prevents this,” he said. “Our hope is that the Court will modify or reverse Roe and allow states to ban abortion.”
The result of all this is a broken system. America has one of the most permissive national abortion laws in the world: of 59 countries that allow abortion on demand, it is one of only seven that allow it after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Yet six states have only one clinic left and in a handful more women must travel hundreds of miles to find a clinic. This seems to intensify polarisation on the issue. Pro-life activists, who believe abortion is murder, focus on the regulations that the courts did not uphold. “People are frustrated…they’re trying to show the courts they’ve had enough,” says Joe Pojman, founder of Texas Alliance for Life. Abortion-rights activists and progressive lawmakers, meanwhile, are pushing hard in the opposite direction. At least seven states now have no laws governing when or for what reason a woman may have an abortion.
By: Emma Bowman
Joe Pojman, executive director of the anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life, said the Supreme Court’s apparent readiness to take a new look at abortion rights gives opponents such as himself some hope that Texas and other states will see an outcome that gives them the latitude for such restrictions.
Although he expects the so-called Texas Heartbeat Act to face a series of court challenges, he wants to see such bills go even further, he said, “even up to the moment of conception — fertilization.”
“We think the state has a right and a responsibility to protect all citizens, including the most vulnerable citizens — unborn children — from harm, and we believe that the state has a responsibility to protect those children from abortion,” he said.
By: Charlie Butts
The Human Life Protection Act (House Bill 1280), the latest piece of legislation Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has signed into law, is a trigger bill that would ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the precedent that established a so-called right to abortion in 1973.
Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life tells One News Now the statute is one of the most momentous pro-life laws The Lone Star State has ever passed.
“That law fully recognizes the personhood of the unborn child and protects that unborn child from abortion beginning at the conception just as soon as the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade and allows states to do so,” Pojman details.
But because the nation’s high court is considering overturning that outdated decision, regressives in Congress are pushing a bill that would again force abortion on all 50 states, regardless of state laws.
“Pro-lifers across the country must pressure Congress to prevent them from passing any law that would overturn state laws protecting unborn babies,” Pojman insists. “Congress should not be putting into law Roe vs Wade or any other right to abortion. That would be a terrible use of federal law.”
Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel has previously warned One News Now that if the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act is passed and signed into law, then the states would be completely powerless to regulate abortion.
By: MacAoidh
A statement from Texas Alliance for Life last night…
Today the Texas Senate gave final approval to the Human Life Protection Act, HB 1280 — one of Texas Alliance for Life’s top priorities — on an 19 to 12 vote. The House passed HB 1280 on an 81 to 61 vote on May 6. The bill now goes to Governor Greg Abbott who is expected to sign it into law.
The Human Life Protection Act is a complete ban on abortion, beginning at conception (fertilization), that goes into effect when and to the extent the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Texas joins 10 states who have passed similar measures.
Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) is the Senate sponsor of HB 1280, and Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake) is the House author. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the Human Life Protection Act one of his priority bills, assigning the low number SB 9 to the Senate bill, which was authored by Sen. Paxton.
HB 1280 is also supported by the State Republican Executive Committee and several other major pro-life organizations, including the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, Texans for Life Coalition, West Texans for Life, and others.
The passage of the Human Life Protection Act is especially significant in light of the recent announcement that the United States Supreme Court will consider the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in its next term. That case involves “whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.” Viability occurs as early as 22-23 weeks in pregnancy, meaning the State of Texas is currently prohibited from protecting tens of thousands of unborn babies from abortion every year who have substantial prenatal development. A decision in that case is expected in June 2022.
“We are extremely pleased at the passage of HB 1280. We commend Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Dade Phelan and thank those Senate and House members who supported this landmark bill,” said Dr. Joe Pojman, Texas Alliance for Life’s executive director. “To whatever extent the Supreme Court allows states to protect unborn babies from abortion — whether at 15 weeks, six weeks, or at conception — the Human Life Protection Act will go into effect to the same extent.”
By: Stefano Kotsonis, Kimberly Atkins
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Mississippi abortion case that could spell the end of Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, abortion restrictions are being signed into laws at an unprecedented rate. We look at the battle over abortion in 2021.
Guests
Mary Ziegler, legal historian and professor of law at the Florida State University College of Law. Author of “Abortion in America: A Legal History, Roe v. Wade to the Present” and “After Roe: The Lost History of the Abortion Debate.” (@maryrziegler)
Joan Biskupic, CNN legal analyst and Supreme Court biographer. Author of
many books, including “The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts.” (@JoanBiskupic)
Also Featured
Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate for state issues at the Guttmacher Institute. (@ElizNash)
Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life. (@joepojman)