By: Taylor Goldenstein

Deirdre Cooper, a public policy analyst for Texas Alliance for Life, holds one of her daughters as she shares her experiences with pregnancy complications and her support for the state’s abortion laws on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Austin, Texas, after attending the Texas Supreme Court’s hearing on the Zurawski v Texas case. Cooper shared that her son Bosco, one of her 10 children, was diagnosed with Edwards syndrome, a severe chromosomal abnormality, and died in childbirth in April 2021.

By: Charlie Butts

Amy O’Donnell of Texas Alliance for Life sees that as something to celebrate.

O’Donnell, Amy (Texas Alliance for Life)O’Donnell
“We consider it a victory that pro-life laws are resulting in lives saved,” she tells AFN. “Those babies will grow up to be productive citizens of the United States, and we celebrate that 32,000 babies are alive today because we have laws to protect life across the country.”

Still, O’Donnell says the study perpetuates the lie that women need abortion access to compete academically, vocationally, athletically, or in other ways.

“That is mistaken,” she asserts. “In the last 30 years, when abortion rates have fallen dramatically, women’s progress has advanced dramatically. In reality, women don’t need abortion to advance in this country.”

Liberal media suggests pro-life laws are laws for forced pregnancies, but O’Donnell points out that most abortions are not sought in cases of rape. They are sought as a form of birth control after a consensual encounter.

By: Ford Sanders

Groups, including Texas Alliance for Life, argue these laws are clear and a lawsuit like this is to open the pathway for more and more abortions to be allowed.

“The lawsuit seeks to significantly expand the reasons to allow abortions in our state, putting the lives of thousands of unborn babies in Texas at risk every year,” said Amy O’Donnell with the organization. “The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights is seeking to expand abortion access in Texas at the expense of unborn babies lives, while using the stories of women who tragically lost their babies due to either doctors being confused about the clarity that exists in the medical language in Texas pro-life laws, or due to fatal diagnoses for unborn babies.”

The hearing on Tuesday was just in regard to the injunction set in place by Judge Mangrum that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed. There isn’t expected to be a ruling on this until a couple months into next year.

By: Kevin Reece

“We are not in favor of any weakening exceptions,” said Amy O’Donnell with Texas Alliance for Life. “Children who are diagnosed with a disability in the womb or a fatal diagnosis in the womb are as worthy of protection as any other child. And we believe that the language is adequate to protect a mother’s life when a doctor needs to intervene to save her life or to avoid any risk.”

There is no timeline on when the Texas Supreme Court justices will issue a decision. They could leave the law as it is or let the injunction stand until further lower court arguments spell out more clearly what physicians can and cannot do when it comes to abortion in Texas.

By: Melanie Torre

The Texas Alliance for Life pushed back saying any clarification on the law should come from the Texas Medical Board.

“We are here today because we support the pro-life laws in Texas and we believe the language is adequate to protect a mother’s life,” said Amy O’Donnell, communications director for the Texas Alliance for Life. The organization’s policy analyst, Deirdre Cooper, said she had been in the same shoes as some of the women suing the state, but she does not regret seeing her baby’s fatal trisomy 18 diagnosis to the end—even if her son did not survive.

“Abortion robs that child of the chance at life– no matter how short. It robs the child of the chance of a miracle or the chance that the medical diagnosis is wrong,” Cooper said. “People think these are such difficult situations, but I disagree. There is nothing difficult about not killing your child– no matter his diagnosis,” she added.