By: Andrea Zelinski

“We are not convinced there are enough votes on the Supreme Court at the moment to repeal Roe v. Wade or even scale back Roe v. Wade,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, referring to the landmark ruling that originated in Texas that found women have a constitutional right to the procedure.

He’s urging the Legislature to pass less sweeping bills, such as banning cities, counties and other municipalities from doing business with abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and their affiliates.

Pojman said he is not advising lawmakers to pass a bill to ban abortions of fetuses with diagnosed abnormalities after 20 weeks gestation because he does not believe it could survive a court challenge.

By: Lauren Caruba

Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group, said problems related to instrument sterilization were “inexcusable,” regardless of the clinic’s submitted corrective plan.

“We’ve very pleased that Whole Woman’s Health of San Antonio has closed permanently. It was not a well-run abortion facility,” Pojman said. “San Antonio does not need Whole Woman’s Health.”

By: Andrea Zelinski

This battle of burial is different from many past abortion fights because it focuses debate on the dignity of the fetus instead of the health regulations of abortion clinics. State officials say their goals are to keep fetal and embryonic remains out of sanitary landfills where other medical tissue is disposed of, and banning an outdated procedure of grinding and flushing the remains into a sanitary sewer.

“This is not going to make abortion unavailable. Abortion is readily available in Texas, that will continue,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. “This is merely about assuring that the remains of babies who die from miscarriage and abortion are handled in a dignified manner.”

The law is easy for abortion clinics and hospitals to comply with, he said. To help defray the costs, the state built a registry of participating funeral homes and cemeteries willing to provide free or low-cost burials. Private nonprofit groups, too, can sign up on the registry to signal their willingness to help pay other related costs.

By: Peggy Fikac

On the anti-abortion side, White’s declaration that he would defend women’s right to abortion drew a rebuke from executive director Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life.

Pojman accused the Democratic Party of pressuring White “to renounce his pro-life values.”

Related

Early voting for runoffs starts Monday

How Valdez, White differ on key issues in the governor’s race

In statewide race, White’s too white, Valdez too green [Opinion]

“We sincerely hope that Mr. White will untangle himself and return to his original position of support for the unborn, and offer Democrat voters a true pro-life option in this runoff,” Pojman said in a statement.

By: Peggy Fikac

But Abbott and Pojman interacted warmly at the event, and Abbott’s appearance seems enough to show his support of the group’s work. The governor’s spokespeople didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Pojman says he would like to work with Texas Right to Life, but that the last email he got from the group was one asking to be removed from his email list 18 months ago.

“We regret that there is a split in the pro-life movement,” Pojman said. He said it weakens the movement’s credibility and keeps them from pooling resources. “It is not our preference, and we seek to have all the groups working together, but a marriage takes two willing partners,” he said.