By: Bridget Grumet
Still, Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the state’s highest court to overturn Mangrum’s ruling, arguing abortion restrictions should be decided by the Legislature (which, I should note, is 70% men), not the judiciary. He got a loud chorus of backup this week as 10 Texas senators and 80 Texas House members signed onto a brief drafted by an anti-abortion group, the Texas Alliance for Life Trust Fund.
By: Fernanda Figueroa
During the Texas Rally for Life — which was hosted by Texas Alliance for Life, a nonprofit focused on protecting the “right to life” from conception through death — demonstrators gathered to march through downtown Austin, ending at the Capitol in celebration of the court decision that struck down the 1973 ruling that had protected abortion rights nationwide.
More than 30 buses from across the state brought people to the annual rally, according to the organization.
By: Madlin Mekelburg
“If the court’s final ruling is similar to this, it will be the answer to almost 50 years of prayer and hope,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of the anti-abortion organization Texas Alliance for Life. “It will have completely returned the question of protecting unborn babies back to the states.”
Should the court strike down Roe v. Wade, Texas would be among 13 states to outlaw the procedure almost immediately, under a so-called trigger law set to go into effect 30 days after an opinion from the high court.
Under the law, it would be a felony to perform an abortion, except to save the life of a pregnant patient or if the patient risks “substantial impairment” of a major bodily function. There would be no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. Doctors who perform illegal abortions could face life in prison and fines of up to $100,000.
By: Madlin Mekelburg
Joe Pojman, executive director of the anti-abortion organization Texas Alliance for Life, said he believes lawmakers who supported efforts to outlaw abortion in Texas “will be rewarded and not punished” at the polls in November, despite the findings in UT’s poll.
“Year after years, polls have results like that, and yet the pro-life movement in Texas continues to advance,” he said. “I don’t see a connection between these polls and what’s really happening in terms of elections.”
But abortion could prove a decisive issue in at least two May 24 primary runoff elections: a Republican statehouse race in Fort Worth and a Democratic congressional contest in South Texas.
Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, was forced into a runoff with David Lowe, a party activist backed by a far-right group looking to elect more conservative members.
Klick, a nurse and five-term House member, has carried many anti-abortion bills, including a bill passed last year to further restrict access to medication abortions.
Texas Alliance for Life and Texas Right to Life, the state’s two most prominent anti-abortion organizations, have endorsed Klick and expressed concerns over comments Lowe has made praising failed legislation that would have made ending a pregnancy a crime punishable by the death penalty.
The so-called trigger law that would outlaw abortion does not include any criminal penalties for people seeking abortion, only for doctors who might perform an illegal abortion.
“Do we all agree that abortion is murder?” Lowe asked a crowd during a campaign event earlier this year, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram. “Absolutely. There should be consequences for it.”
Both organizations and Klick oppose any laws that prosecute people who seek abortions.
“We believe women considering abortion should be provided compassion and alternatives to abortion, not the threat of jail,” Pojman said.
By: Natalia E. Contreras
During the Texas Rally for Life in January, where thousands of abortion opponents gathered at the Capitol, Abbott told the crowd that he is prioritizing help for pregnant people in need.
He said Texas is providing $100 million for programs that can be alternatives to abortion to support expecting mothers in need.
In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Texas Alliance for Life said the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion gives the anti-abortion organization “reason to be hopeful.”
“We will continue to work to promote compassionate alternatives to abortion available to (women) through the state’s highly successful Alternatives to Abortion program, the Texas Healthy Women Program, and more,” the statement says.
By: Natalia E. Contreras, Madlin Mekelburg
“There’s no freedom more precious than life itself. I promised to protect the life of a child with a heartbeat, and we did,” Abbott told the crowd Saturday. “I am proud to join you in this fight to protect the sanctity of life in Texas.”
Demonstrators kicked off the rally at the intersection of East 13th and Brazos Streets and marched to the Capitol chanting, “We are pro-life!”
Speakers included the Rev. Joe Vasquez, Roman Catholic bishop of Austin; state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, and Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life.