THE LEGISLATURE IGNORES SUFFERING PREGNANT TEXANS | TEXAS OBSERVER

Visit Website

By: SARA HUTCHINSON

“I am pleased to say that none of the bills that want to weaken our pro-life laws have been sent in any committee to be heard,” spokesperson Amy O’Donnell said, “And we are going to keep it that way.”

O’Donnell said that if doctors need clarification, that clarification should come not from the Legislature, but from other bodies such as the Texas Medical Board.

Yet evidence is mounting that Texas anti-abortion laws prevent doctors from providing standard-of-care treatment. Bernardo and her 12 co-plaintiffs were all denied care for their pregnancy complications as a result of Texas law.

State Senator Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, who filed the Senate version of the bill, said that she’s disappointed the Legislature failed to act.

“When the Lege passed the trigger ban, a lot of us warned that the exception was too vague and undefined and that could have a chilling effect on doctors’ ability to treat their patients, leading to delay or even a denial of care,” she said, “and what we predicted came true.”

The ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bill Has 57 Authors. All but 3 of them Are Men. | Texas Observer

Visit Website

By: Vicky Camarillo

But anti-abortion groups Texas Alliance for Life and the more hardline Texas Right to Life aren’t throwing their full support behind HB 1500. Joe Pojman, director of Texas Alliance for Life, said while he’s excited about the number of lawmakers signing on, his group is not recommending that the Legislature pass it. “We’re just recommending bills that have a reasonable chance of sustaining a federal court challenge,” Pojman said.

Meet Mikael Love, the OB-GYN Who Doesn’t Prescribe Birth Control | Texas Observer

Visit Website

By: Sophie Novack

Love began lobbying in 1999 at the encouragement of Joe Pojman, executive director of anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life. Love has “an inexhaustible energy when it comes to defending unborn babies,” Pojman said this spring. The two met through Pojman’s wife, who is Love’s patient. (“He caught all of my babies when they came out,” Pojman said, laughing.) They’ve worked together since — Pojman calls Love “around the clock” to discuss strategy; Love reaches out for lobbying tips.

What We’re Watching in the 2018 Texas Primaries | Texas Observer

Visit Website

By: Texas Observer Staff

The longtime feud brewing among anti-abortion advocates is coming to a head this primary cycle. Last month, the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “parish advisory” against the far-right Texas Right to Life, calling the group’s scoring of lawmakers unfair. While the bishops favor the more incremental approach deployed by Texas Alliance for Life, the House Freedom Caucus-aligned Texas Right to Life has taken to attacking any incumbent that does not vote for even the most extreme anti-abortion measures.
. . .
The anti-abortion infighting is particularly apparent in the race for Senate District 2 in Northeast Texas, where Representative Cindy Burkett is challenging Senator Bob Hall. Burkett, who sponsored the sweeping anti-abortion bill that passed this session, has a 100 percent rating from Texas Alliance for Life, which calls her a “pro-life champion.”

Texas Bill Could Send People to Jail for Driving a Woman to an Abortion, Lawmaker Says | Texas Observer

Visit Website

By: Sophie Novack

Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, said that he would support individuals who knowingly assist with the abortion facing prosecution, but that Moody’s inclusion of drivers and receptionists was “far-fetched.”

“It’s possible a third party could be prosecuted, but it would have to be someone close to the physician that is knowingly performing the abortion, like a nurse,” added Pojman, who said that in his 25 years lobbying against abortion in Texas, he’s never heard this kind of objection.