By: BY CHARLOTTE SCOTT

Dr. Joe Pojman, the executive director for the anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life, says abortion absolves men of the financial responsibilities that fatherhood requires for at least 18 years. But he said emotions can linger, because abortions rob men of the opportunity to be fathers.

“Some of my very best friends have been involved in abortions, got their girlfriend’s pregnant, girlfriends went had an abortion, and they were devastated. And this is something they carry with them for their lives. For decades,” Dr. Pojman said.

Dr. Pojman said he became an anti-abortion advocate when a former girlfriend of his confided in him about her own abortion.

“Those scars ran very deep in her heart,” Dr. Pojman said. “I realized that I could no longer be a bystander. As a man, I have as much responsibility to be involved to protect mothers and unborn babies from abortion, the same as women, the same as anyone in society.”

He noted that men have a responsibility in pregnancy, and they shouldn’t just say it’s “a woman’s issue.”

“To me, that’s simply a cop out,” he said. “It’s just trying to wash their hands from any responsibility… With the Human Life Protection Act going into effect, babies are protected from abortion, beginning at conception. Our hope is that men are involved, that they’re showing support, and taking responsibility for their actions.”

By: REENA DIAMANTE

“It’s egregious to me that the Biden-Harris administration would use women as political pawns in their game when it comes to protecting life,” said Amy O’Donnell, a communications director at Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion lobbying group. “There’s simply no reason conceivable outside of politics that they turn this down in Texas.”

Lawmakers say they suspect the denial resulted from the language in the legislation that says coverage continues from “the date the woman delivers or experiences an involuntary miscarriage.” They say that could be interpreted as excluding those who had abortions from any expansion of Medicaid.

By: REENA DIAMANTE

It has not been used for nearly a half-century, but some abortion opponents believe it is fair game after Roe’s reversal.

“They have ceased doing abortions because of the threat of prosecution under that pre-Roe law,” Joe Pojman, executive director for Texas Alliance for Life, said. “I’m very grateful that for right now, it appears that unborn babies are not being aborted. Hopefully, those women are being told about the alternatives, the vast resources available to them if they choose to give birth to the child.”

By: ASHLEY CLASTER

Dr. Joe Pojman is on the other side of the debate. Dr. Pojman is anti-abortion, but, like Cotter, believes men should speak their opinions.

“Everyone has seen these images of the unborn baby,” Dr. Pojman said. “I have been involved with this issue for more than three decades.”

Thirty-four years ago, he founded the Texas Alliance for Life with one primary goal.

“To protect unborn babies against the tragedy of abortion all the way to conception,” he said.

By: NIKI GRISWOLD

The Texas law, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, would ban abortion in the nation’s second-biggest state after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks of pregnancy and is before many women even know they are pregnant.

It asks private citizens to enforce the ban by suing doctors or anyone who helps a woman get an abortion. Among other situations, that would include anyone who drives a woman to a clinic to get an abortion. Under the law, anyone who successfully sues another person would be entitled to at least $10,000.

“This law is extreme, both in terms of the number of people who will be impacted if it goes into effect, and then also by opening the floodgates in our courthouses to these frivolous and very damaging lawsuits that people can file, even when they’re not directly impacted in any way by what somebody’s decision is to seek an abortion,” said said Sarah Wheat, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.

“Texas is leading the nation in this regard and we’re gonna have to see how the federal and state courts handle it. We’re not sure if it’s going to work but I will say it’s – we’re hopeful that many babies’ lives will be protected,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.

Anti-abortion advocates say getting the legislation to Gov. Abbott’s desk was a major victory.