Human Life Protection Act “Trigger Ban” Goes into Effect in Texas Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 25, 2022

CONTACT:
Amy O’Donnell, Director of Communications
amy@texasallianceforlife.org
512.477.1244 (o)

AUSTIN, TX — Today, the Human Life Protection Act, HB 1280, goes into effect to completely protect unborn babies from the tragedy of abortion beginning at conception. “Triggered” by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization opinion on June 24, the law was written to go into effect 30 days after the Court’s subsequent “judgment” on July 26. Authored by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake) and Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), the Texas Legislature passed and Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 1280 in 2021.

“The Human Life Protection Act is the last stake in the heart of the abortion industry in Texas,” said Texas Alliance for Life Executive Director Dr. Joe Pojman. “This law was among the top legislative priorities for Texas Alliance for Life last year. Today, and each day after, we celebrate that unborn babies’ lives will be saved from abortion in our great state beginning at conception.”

The Human Life Protection Act provides multiple avenues of protection against illegal abortions in Texas. Violators can be sentenced to up to 99 years in prison, be fined $100,000 or more, and lose their medical licenses. HB 1280 does not allow prosecution for the treatment of a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, and women cannot be charged for seeking an abortion.

HB 1280 updates and improves upon the pre-Roe abortion laws (first passed in 1854) that the Supreme Court blocked in the terrible Roe v. Wade decision. Those laws went back into effect after the Court overturned Roe.

The Guttmacher Institute, a leading advocate for legal abortion, reports that all 23 abortion facilities in Texas have ceased performing abortions.

“Texas was well prepared for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe,” added Dr. Pojman.

In addition to working toward protecting unborn children’s lives in our state through signing the Human Life Protection Act, Governor Abbott approved an appropriation of $100 million for the current two-year budget for the highly successful Alternatives to Abortion program. Support is available for at least three years after birth from nearly 200 pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies across the state, serving 150,000 clients each year, far more than the 55,000 abortions in Texas in 2020. Governor Abbott also approved $1.2 billion/year in the Medicaid Program for prenatal, childbirth, and follow-up care for low-income women and their babies.

Here is a summary of how Texas achieved these successes and what comes next.

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