By: CLARICE SILBER Associated Press
Leach, who chairs the House committee that held a public hearing on the measure, known as House Bill 896, said in a statement posted on Twitter that the bill would not advance. Prominent anti-abortion groups in Texas have also come out against the measure, including the Texas Alliance for Life, which noted that no states prosecuted women before the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
By: SETH MILLSTEIN
The legislation received pushback not only from supporters of reproductive rights, but also from anti-abortion groups, the Dallas Morning News reported. The Texas Alliance for Life opposed the bill on the grounds that it violates Roe v. Wade, according to the Dallas Morning News, while Texans for Life told the newspaper that it “opposes criminalizing or penalizing women as it only protects the abortionist.”
By: Gardner Selby
The Texas Alliance for Life, one of two anti-abortion groups that oppose Tinderholt’s plan, saluted Leach on Twitter on Thursday for reaffirming his decision not to help the legislation advance.
By: Alanna Vagianos
Otra organización antiabortista de Texas llamada Texas Alliance for Life también se opone al proyecto de ley. El director ejecutivo, doctor Joe Pojman, dijo al HuffPost que la organización no apoya el proyecto de ley porque “tiene pocas opciones de sobrevivir el desafió de un tribunal federal debido a que viola la jurisprudencia de la Corte Suprema”.
By: Heather Clark
“We agree with Chairman Jeff Leach 100%, and we thank him for his leadership. Women were NEVER prosecuted for abortion in Texas or in any other state before Roe. Not right to start now. We need to focus on stopping abortion doctors, not prison cells for women,” also remarked the Texas Alliance for Life.
By: ALEX HENDERSON
Introduced in 2017 by Texas State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (a far-right Republican from Arlington), Texas House Bill 896 calls for total statewide criminalization of abortion and is being pushed by the Christian right. However, it has yet to come up for a vote, and even some of Tinderholt’s fellow Republicans believe that it is going too far by calling for homicide charges for women who have abortions. Texas State Rep. Jeff Leach, for example, has appeared reluctant to bring the bill to a full Texas House vote. And the Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group, has voiced its opposition to Texas House Bill 896.