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.”
By: Emily Brindley
With a year and a half until the next legislative session, there are also non-legislative campaigns that could move the needle on Texans’ abortion access.
Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, said his focus for now is on the enforcement of Texas’ existing law. Pojman said he’ll be watching for the implementation of continuing education training under the abortion clarification bill. He also wants to see district attorneys take more enforcement action against doctors and others who provide abortion care or access.
Pojman, like Seago, is opposed to medication abortion. But he thinks the solution is the enforcement of existing law rather than additional legislation.
“We do have a problem with drugs being brought illegally into Texas for chemical abortions,” Pojman said. “I’d like to see more aggressive activity by district attorneys to prosecute those crimes.”
By: Emily Brindley
Anti-abortion groups such as Texas Right to Life and Texas Alliance for Life have voiced approval, alongside physician groups such as the Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Medical Association.
By: Emily Brindley
The two identical bills have garnered support from anti-abortion rights advocates such as the leaders of Texas Right to Life and Texas Alliance for Life, and also from medical providers with the Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Medical Association.
By: Emily Brindley
Prominent anti-abortion rights advocates — including president of Texas Right to Life John Seago and founder of the Texas Alliance for Life Joe Pojman — also testified in favor of the bill.
By: By Emily Brindley and Nolan D. McCaskill
“It’s highly illegal in Texas,” said Joe Pojman, founder and executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. “It is the same offense as performing an illegal abortion in Texas.”
Legal experts have said the law isn’t so black-and-white, particularly because a number of other states have enacted shield laws that protect health care providers from other states’ abortion bans.