By: JESSIKA HARKAY AND JAMES HARTLEY
Amy O’Donnell, a spokesperson from Texas Alliance for Life, an abortion-opposing nonprofit — which has advocated toward “protecting life from conception to natural death using peaceful legal means,” since 1988 — echoed Chief Justice John Roberts’ sentiments calling the leaked document “an egregious breach of trust,” within the court, but also added that the organization is hopeful the decision will remain the same in upcoming weeks. “If this does go into law, we as an organization have been working towards this point for a long time. The anticipation that Roe v. Wade could be overturned, has been something that we have acknowledged and been aware of as a possibility,” said O’Donnell, the organization’s director of communications. “We have to trust as Chief Roberts asserted today that the work of the court will not be affected in any way by the leak. We trust our justices to continue to do business as usual and not be swayed by public opinion. At the same time, we recognize that the leaked draft is not the final and there are draft changes that occur as the drafts are circulated and votes can shift.” O’Donnell said the organization is moving forward with “cautious optimism,” as they await a final decision and that their mission will carry on as normal. “Our goal now, as always, is to educate women on the compassionate alternatives to abortion that are available in our state. Texas has allotted $100 million, which is an increase from the $80 million previously … to fund some of these compassionate alternatives to abortion,” O’Donnell said. “And those monies go towards organizations such as pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies who in various ways support women as they walk through unplanned pregnancies and consider their life options moving forward.”