By: Charlie Butts

The Human Life Protection Act (House Bill 1280), the latest piece of legislation Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has signed into law, is a trigger bill that would ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the precedent that established a so-called right to abortion in 1973.

Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life tells One News Now the statute is one of the most momentous pro-life laws The Lone Star State has ever passed.

“That law fully recognizes the personhood of the unborn child and protects that unborn child from abortion beginning at the conception just as soon as the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade and allows states to do so,” Pojman details.

But because the nation’s high court is considering overturning that outdated decision, regressives in Congress are pushing a bill that would again force abortion on all 50 states, regardless of state laws.

“Pro-lifers across the country must pressure Congress to prevent them from passing any law that would overturn state laws protecting unborn babies,” Pojman insists. “Congress should not be putting into law Roe vs Wade or any other right to abortion. That would be a terrible use of federal law.”

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel has previously warned One News Now that if the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act is passed and signed into law, then the states would be completely powerless to regulate abortion.

By: Steven Ertelt

The Texas legislature passed the Human Life Protection Act (House Bill 1280) and the governor today put his signature on it.

Sometimes referred to as a “trigger bill,” the legislation would protect unborn babies by banning abortions completely or as much as the U.S. Supreme Court allows when it overturns Roe v. Wade. The ban would go into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court rules. Exceptions would be allowed for risks to the mother’s life or a “substantial impairment of major bodily function.” Abortionists who violate the measure could face fines or prison time.

“A favorable ruling would make Texas one of the first states to end abortions,” the bill’s author, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, said on Twitter.

“We are extremely pleased at the passage of HB 1280,” said Dr. Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, after the legislature approved the measure. “To whatever extent the Supreme Court allows states to protect unborn babies from abortion — whether at 15 weeks, six weeks, or at conception — the Human Life Protection Act will go into effect to the same extent.”

By: Erin Jones, Mauricio Chamberlin

Dr. Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, told VERIFY that the pro-life organization he founded in 1988 was adamant that there must be an exception included in SB 8 to allow a physician to terminate a pregnancy if the mother’s life is in danger.

“We have to have those exceptions for the life of the mother. Fortunately, those cases are very rare with modern science, but it could happen in the case of an ectopic, in other words, tubal pregnancy, when the unborn child is developing not in the uterus of the mother, but in a fallopian tube and if left unattended that fallopian tube could rupture, the child will certainly die, and it could risk the life of the mother through hemorrhaging. So, that has to be treated and the treatment is to take action to the end of pregnancy. The intent, of course, is not to take the life of the child, but to save the mother’s life, and an unintended result is that the child will die,” said Dr. Pojman.

Pojman says his organization did not recommend that the Texas Legislature include exceptions in the case of rape or incest.

“We have to recognize that the terrible, violent act of aggression of a rapist against a woman is an absolutely hideous act — it’s a bodily violation of that woman. But the question is, if in rare cases that that act results in the pregnancy of the woman, what’s the best thing for all parties involved? And, of course, we’re talking about the mother and the unborn child. We do not think a compassionate society should advocate the death of the unborn child because of the terrible act of the father of the child; that child is also an innocent victim, just as the woman,” said Pojman.

By: Christine Hauser

Ms. Smith’s speech also drew strong reactions from opponents of abortion who support the law.

“How sad Paxton has bought the lie that women have to eradicate unplanned pregnancies to achieve dreams & goals,” Amy O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alliance for Life, said on Twitter. “Women can give life to their babies AND do great things.”

The law, which goes into effect on Sept. 1, bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. The legislation, also known as the “heartbeat law,” is among the most restrictive abortion measures in the country.