Joe Pojman, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Dr. Joe Pojman is the executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, a statewide pro-life organization based in Austin. Dr. Pojman has legislatively advocated for pro-life issues in the state Capitol for over thirty years… Read more about Joe Pojman.
Deirdre Cooper
Public Policy Analyst
Deirdre has worked at Texas Alliance for Life since April 2008. She received her degrees in Psychology, and Political Science and History from Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY. After graduating with honors, she moved back to the D.C. area and worked in the policy department of the Family Research Council, where she met her husband, Kody. Her research at F.R.C. was focused on Planned Parenthood’s lack of informed consent, which prepared her well for pro-life work in Texas. She has legislatively advocated for the sonogram bill, the Choose Life license plate, defunding Planned Parenthood, and H.B. 2. She enjoys keeping the organization’s Facebook page up-to-date, raising her seven children, playing board games, and eating Tex-Mex.
Amy O’Donnell
Director of Communications, Public Policy Team Member
Amy joined the Texas Alliance for Life team as a Public Policy Team Member and Director of Communications in August 2018. Since that time, she has legislatively advocated for the Human Life Protection Act (HB 1280), the Chemical Abortion Safety Protocols Bill (SB 4), Senate Bill 22, which bans contracts between a governmental entity and abortion providers and their affiliates, the Texas Born Alive Infant Protection Act, increased funding for the Alternatives to Abortion program, and more. Before this new role, Amy led and served in multiple areas of ministry at Shoreline Church, located in Austin, TX. She played a pivotal role in campus expansion, messaging, curriculum development, leadership training, team building, speaking at gatherings and events, overseeing logistics teams, volunteer management, budget oversight, social media management, project management for Shoreline Church’s Women’s ministry, and working with network churches as the Global Creative Coordinator for SHINE, an annual conference for women. She served as the first President of the Shoreline Staff Toastmasters Club. In addition, Amy is an engaging writer and ghostwriter, and her first book, Parenting with a Purpose, is available for purchase on Amazon. Amy speaks on parenting and various topics for women at conference break-out sessions and women’s events around the Austin and South Texas areas. She graduated from Texas A&M University and holds a degree in Biomedical Engineering. David and Amy live outside the Austin area and have four children, Russel, Brendan, Ethan, and Kylie.
Lance Peterson
Director of Financial Development
Peterson has a bachelor’s from Michigan State University’s School of Hospitality Business and an M.B.A. in International Management. After spending seven years in hotel sales and marketing, Lance spent two years in Asia working for the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2000, Lance moved to Austin, Texas, from Vietnam to work for Wayport and, later, with STSN, in their sales and marketing divisions, where he sold and consulted on network installations.
Ashley Sosa
Communications Associate
Ashley is a first-generation Mexican American and college graduate from Texas A&M University-San Antonio, with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and a concentration in Spanish. She has experience in the broadcasting industry, working for her university’s news station and interning at Univision Latin News Network. Her passion for protecting the most vulnerable came from volunteering at “La Diferencia Hospice,” where she provided end-of-life care to her patients. She looks forward to informing the youth about ways to stay active in the pro-life movement and bringing to light the resources that are available to women in the State of Texas.
Michael T. Murillo-Zuniga
Community Engagement Director
Michael T. Murillo-Zuniga has been in politics for over a decade in Texas. He has served as Executive Director for the Republican Party of Bexar County for two county chairs, Regional Director for Candidate Recruitment for the Republican Party of Texas, and Regional Field Director for Texas Victory. He has been part of many successful federal, state, and local campaigns. More recently, he led our Pro-Life campaign against Proposition A in San Antonio, TX.
Regan Hogan
Public Policy Analyst
Regan graduated from Howard Payne University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History. He has spent the last few years covering numerous House and Senate committees during the legislative sessions at the state Capitol. He has volunteered at several pro-life events and is passionate about his faith, family, fishing, and football.
Additional Staff
Paul Linton, Special Counsel
Paul Linton is a private practice attorney specializing in state and federal constitutional law. Before entering private practice, he was General Counsel for Americans United for Life.
Mr. Linton has represented amici curiae in landmark beginning-of-life and end-of-life cases in the United States Supreme Court, including Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989), Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dep’t of Health (1990), Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), Washington v. Glucskberg (1997), Vacco v. Quill (1997), Stenberg v. Carhart (2000), Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (2006), Gonzales v. Oregon (2006), Gonzales v. Carhart (2007), and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (2007). He has also submitted briefs in most federal courts of appeals and a majority of the state supreme courts in the United States.
Mr. Linton has published nineteen law review articles on a variety of topics, including the history of abortion regulation and the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence, state equal rights amendments, criminal law, sex discrimination, same-sex marriage, and assisted suicide, as well as multiple articles in journals of opinion. He has also published the only comprehensive analysis of abortion rights claims under state constitutions, ABORTION UNDER STATE CONSTITUTIONS A State-by-State Analysis (Carolina Academic Press) (2d ed. 2012). He received his undergraduate (B.A. Honors) and law (J.D.) degrees from the Loyola University of Chicago.