Penalties, Protections for Abortive Mothers at Center of Pro-Life Platform Debate at Texas GOP Convention | The Texan

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By: Mary Elise O'Bar

Alliance for Life holds that women should not be punished for receiving abortions, and argues that if women who are forced abort their babies are placed in a position where they could face criminal penalties, they won’t be able to come forward to share their abuse, whether it be coercion by people in their lives or medical malpractice by abortionists.

“Texas Alliance for Life is in favor of putting abortion providers accountable, not punishing women for abortion,” Amy O’Donnell, Executive Director of Alliance for Life, said in an interview with The Texan on Thursday.

“We also have to remember that for almost 50 years, [Roe v. Wade] was the law of the land, and people were told that they had a constitutional right to abortion and abortion is healthcare, and we had to work incrementally to save lives,” she continued.

Abortion groups fight over whether Texas GOP’s legislative priorities list is too extreme | San Antonio Current

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By: Julianna Plewes

“The approach that they’re taking advocating for life in prison or the death penalty would set the pro-life movement backwards,” Texas Alliance for Life Executive Director Amy O’Donnell told the Current. At last month’s Republican State Convention in Houston, delegates voted to include a clause on protecting the unborn as one of the priorities for the upcoming legislative session. The Texas Alliance for Life argues the priority, as written urges legislators to repeal three statutes that protect women from prosecution for obtaining an abortion in instances of criminal homicide, indecent assault and liability in wrongful death lawsuits.

O’Donnell maintains the language is the work of hardline group the Foundation to Abolish Abortion. She said the organization flew people in from around the country to sway delegates to support the call for criminal penalties for women getting abortions.

“They spent tens of thousands of dollars on marketing materials, on propaganda, and we were there to educate on why their method is bad news, why it’s never passed, and why it’s not the way to protect women,” O’Donnell said. “The Abolishing Abortion group has saved zero lives, has passed zero laws, and their agenda is to do exactly what they did at the grassroots level, to bring people in from across the nation to try and push their view through.”

A Texas pregnancy center told her everything was fine. Three days later, she was in the ER | Dallas Morning News

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By: Emily Brindley

Abortion opponents say pregnancy centers are a clear net positive to their communities. Amy O’Donnell, the executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, sees ultrasounds specifically as literal lifesavers.

“It has been proven that ultrasounds save lives,” O’Donnell said. “When women and their partners … see their unborn child on the screen, they – many times – choose life.”

Texas Legislature’s long summer ends with Democrats marginalized, Republicans triumphant and unified | Texas Tribune

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By: Kayla Guo

“Texas has reaffirmed its commitment to both protecting life from conception, and ensuring women are not harmed by abortion or dangerous chemical abortion drugs,” said Amy O’Donnell, acting executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. House Bill 7 “reflects the values of the voters in our state who voted in pro-life leaders in the majority who passed this legislation on behalf of the will of the people. HB 7 reflects the position of many Texans.”

Texas bill cracking down on abortion pills now one step away from governor’s desk | KUT NEWS

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By: Olivia Aldridge

Certain anti-abortion groups, including the Texas Alliance for Life, initially held back support for HB7. Amy O’Donnell, communications director for the Texas Alliance for Life, said the group was concerned the large financial reward outlined in the bill would incentivize “financial bounty hunters,” and that associated lawsuits could risk harm to women by exposing their private information.

However, the Texas Alliance for Life gave its support to the final version of HB7, which explicitly prohibits exposure of personal medical information in court filings. It also says that only people who are directly affected — including the pregnant woman and other immediate family members — could receive the full $100,000-plus reward. Other private citizens may receive $10,000 of the reward, with the rest going to a charity.

“I think that it lowers the incentive for bad actors to go after suits for personal gain,” O’Donnell said.

Bill allowing private citizens to sue over abortion pills gets initial OK in the Senate | Texas Tribune

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By: Jessica Shuran Yu, Maria Mendez, Colleen DeGuzman

The Texas Alliance for Life last month expressed support for revisions to HB 7, including those meant to protect women’s privacy and cap financial rewards for people who are not related to the person who had or sought an abortion.

“It is already illegal to traffic abortion drugs in Texas under the Human Life Protection Act, and our priority remains enforcement of that and other laws,” said Amy O’Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance for Life. ”The revised version of HB 7 provides another tool against illegal abortion-by-mail while including vital protections for women.”