By: Katie Hall
Joe Pojman, director of the anti-abortion organization Texas Alliance for Life, said his organization would rather the city money go toward supporting women as they explore options other than abortion.
“We’d like to see them using that $150,000 to promote childbirth and alternatives to abortion,” Pojman said.
By: Chuck Lindell
SB 22 is expected to block Planned Parenthood programs that include short-term clinics that provide contraceptives and health screenings at community colleges across Texas; booths at city- and county-sponsored health fairs that advocate for health testing; and HIV education in jails and prisons.
The Austin school district also is studying whether the law will affect a proposed sex education curriculum for middle school students that was developed by the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, argued that SB 22 is a political statement that will put women’s health at risk and raise the number of unintended pregnancies, leading to more abortions.
But abortion opponents, including Joe Pojman with the Texas Alliance for Life, said that even if SB 22 could not invalidate Planned Parenthood’s lease with Austin, it will block other contracts statewide, “and that’s a big gain for us.”
“We’re very pleased that this law will soon be going into effect,” Pojman said
By: Renzo Downey
Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, one of the organizations in a coalition that opposed SB 2089 — which also includes the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops — said the coalition was not consulted on the change to 45 days and had not yet met to discuss that alteration. However, the Alliance for Life appreciated Lucio’s amendment, he said.
By: Chuck Lindell
Joe Pojman, head of Texas Alliance for Life, sees an opportunity to re-enact the restrictions that Kennedy helped strike down in 2016 — requiring all abortions to be done in hospital-like centers, and requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital.
Difficulty meeting those requirements would have left fewer than 10 abortion clinics open in Texas. More important for future legal challenges, the 2016 ruling established a harder-to-meet legal burden that requires states to show that regulations have benefits that outweigh the difficulties placed on women seeking an abortion.
Pojman also sees a chance to ban cities, counties and hospital districts from signing contracts or providing tax money to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. Efforts to enact such a ban fell short in the 2017 legislative session.
By: Chuck Lindell
According to a written directive, Texas Right to Life has engaged in misleading attacks against political candidates, lied about the Catholic Church’s position on legislation at the state Capitol and opposed church-supported bills by arguing that they don’t go far enough to limit abortions.
. . .
“This is really big,” Wright said. “It’s very, very unfortunate that it came to this. But for our organization, and me personally, to be maligned and slandered for several years, and for our candidates and people who work in good faith to advance good policy down in Austin to be unfairly and maliciously attacked, that hasn’t been good for our movement, either.
. . .
The directive also encouraged Catholics to remain active in opposing abortion and endorsed participation in Texans for Life Alliance, Texas Alliance for Life and “pro-life groups which engage in respectful legislative advocacy.”
By: Ariana Garcia and Taylor Goldenstein
Thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators gathered Saturday afternoon at the Capitol for the Texas Rally for Life, where Gov. Greg Abbott and other guests spoke.
Event organizers estimated around 5,000 people attended the rally.
Melissa Duncan, spokeswoman for the Texas Alliance for Life, one of several organizations that came together for the event, said the gathering highlights the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Roe v. Wade case, which legalized abortion in 1973.
“From our leadership and the legislature to our religious leaders to our organizations across the state, we’re all trying to band together to remember that there are lives to defend and we’ll continue to do so and bring gatherings like this together, not only at this event but across the state to remember that Texas is pro-life,” she said.