By: Russell Falcon, David Crary
The bill is not popular even among anti-abortion groups. The Texas Alliance for Life says the bill goes against precedent, as the state didn’t prosecute any women for having an abortion before it was legalized. Meanwhile, Texans for Life says it opposes the bill because it punishes women.
By: Will Maule
As you can imagine, the reaction from the pro-abortion side was one of fierce criticism. According to Texas Alliance for Life, an intern at NARAL even testified, to the contrary of the bill, that it was her “personal belief that abortion should be legal at 39 weeks.”
By: ARYA SUNDARAM
SB 24 states that a physician must hand the patient a hard copy of the materials – an important clarification, according to Joe Pojman, the executive director for the Texas Alliance for Life. Current law says the information must be provided in a conversation or online.
By: W. Gardner Selby, Staff Writer
Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life, mindful that Republicans retain House and Senate majorities despite Democratic gains in November, said: “We still have the votes to get things done. The trick is to show this is still the will of the state — and I think it is.”
But Texans want abortion to remain legal and protected, said Yvonne Gutierrez of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes. Gutierrez noted a July Quinnipiac University poll indicating that voters by a wide margin back Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision supporting a woman’s right to an abortion — though 51 percent of Republican respondents disagreed with the decision.
More recently, a University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll in February found 66 percent of Republicans and 15 percent of Democrats said abortion laws should be “more strict.”
The alliance and Texans for Life have prioritized a proposal not singled out by Patrick that would be triggered if the Supreme Court overturns abortion’s legality. Senate Bill 2160, authored by Sen. Angela Paxton, R-Plano, and House bills by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, would bar abortion except to save a woman from impairment or death. Both await hearings.
By: State Rep. Brooks Landgraf
In 2016, the Texas Alliance for Life recognized me with the “Courageous Defense of Life Award” and the people of Odessa and beyond have my promise that I will continue to defend life at every turn.
By: Marissa Evans
Joe Pojman, executive director for the Texas Alliance for Life, acknowledged that Texas legislators are “much more sober” on anti-abortion bills this session, in part given the 2018 midterm elections. Democrats flipped 12 seats in the Texas House in the midterms, marking the biggest shift in the lower chamber since the 2010 election cycle. Given their narrower margin, Republican legislators in the majority “want to make sure that the time that is available for social issues involving abortion is very well spent,” Pojman said.
“No one is attributing the loss of Republicans to their support for the [abortion] issue,” Pojman said. “Nevertheless, I want to make sure the bills that are debated are going to have wide support among the public and voters in particular, and I think that will be the case.”