The Texas Alliance for Life 2019 Annual Benefit Dinner hit a record number of attendees this year with over 1400 pro-life leaders, partners, advocates, and supporters from across Texas making reservations for the event. In addition to our donors and guests, many legislators, elected officials, and candidates for upcoming elections came out to show their support for life and our organization. We are truly grateful for everyone whose presence made our evening so special. A couple of notable highlights:
Master of Ceremonies Extraordinaire
Texas Railroad Commissioner Christ Craddick emceed the event, opening by sharing her personal story of adopting her daughter and of the legacy of adoption that runs through her family. She commandeered the evening beautifully, keeping it flowing smoothly from beginning to end. Thank you, Commissioner Craddick, for supporting life and for sharing your time to engage the crowd and run the show!
Texas Alliance for Life President
Texas Alliance for Life President Davida Stike shared updates on the success of the Texas Alliance for Life Annual Walk for life and the generous donations provided to pro-life agencies in central Texas over the years through this fundraising initiative. Additionally, she touched on our desire to see Roe v. Wade overturned and the dozens of federal cases in the federal court pipeline that could present the right argument to do this. We are grateful for our special counsel, Paul Linton, who co-authored a scholarly law review article that set out a legal basis to overturn Roe that will be published next spring.
Legislative Accomplishments
Texas Alliance for Life Executive Director Dr. Joe Pojman provided a legislative update from the successful most recent state legislative session, which wrapped up in May of 2019. Four substantial pro-life bills were passed, funding to the state’s alternatives to abortion was doubled, and numerous other pro-life provisions in the general appropriations act were continued in the state’s two-year budget. To hear more about the successes of the recent legislative session and these pro-life initiatives passed, listen to Joe’s full message or read our end-of-session recap here.
Courageous Defense of Life
United States Senator John Cornyn, State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville), and State Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) were presented with Courageous Defense of Life awards by Texas Alliance for Life. We were honored to hear a few words from each of them and we are grateful for all they do to protect and advocate for life in our state and in our nation.
Keynote Speaker
We had an amazing communicator, Dr. Ron Archer, give the keynote for our event and the crowd of attendees expressed in large numbers how moved they were by his message that God can use anyone, including someone like him — the unwanted child of a 16-year-old prostitute — for great things. Dr. Archer is the survivor of several abortion attempts on his life, and today we see why his story so largely captivates audiences across the globe. We encourage you to listen to his message here and feel free to share it with those you feel would be impacted by it.
Board Members and Elected Officials
To all of our board members and elected officials present at the banquet — thank you for all you do to support our organization and tirelessly fight for life.
A Few Photos from the Evening
More photos from the Texas Alliance for Life Banquet are available here.
