By: Michael Garcia

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick thanked Hughes in a statement after the bill was unanimously passed by the Texas Senate on April 29.

“Since 2021, abortions in Texas have essentially ceased,” Patrick said. “As a Christian and a conservative, I celebrate that tens of thousands of tiny Texans have been saved and that Texas has led the way in protecting life nationwide. SB 31, which is only designed to provide legal clarity for doctors in rare cases when a mother’s life is threatened, is supported by Texas Right to Life, Texas Alliance for Life, and other life groups. I thank Sen. Hughes for his continued passionate defense of life.”

By: Emily Brindley

With a year and a half until the next legislative session, there are also non-legislative campaigns that could move the needle on Texans’ abortion access.

Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, said his focus for now is on the enforcement of Texas’ existing law. Pojman said he’ll be watching for the implementation of continuing education training under the abortion clarification bill. He also wants to see district attorneys take more enforcement action against doctors and others who provide abortion care or access.

Pojman, like Seago, is opposed to medication abortion. But he thinks the solution is the enforcement of existing law rather than additional legislation.

“We do have a problem with drugs being brought illegally into Texas for chemical abortions,” Pojman said. “I’d like to see more aggressive activity by district attorneys to prosecute those crimes.”

By: Steven Ardary

“Since 2021, abortions in Texas have essentially ceased. As a Christian and a conservative, I celebrate that tens of thousands of tiny Texans have been saved and that Texas has led the way in protecting life nationwide,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said after the bill’s passage. “SB 31, which is only designed to provide legal clarity for doctors in rare cases when a mother’s life is threatened, is supported by Texas Right to Life, Texas Alliance for Life, and other life groups. I thank Sen. Hughes for his continued passionate defense of life.”

By: B.D. Hobbs

“To unfairly target pro-life advocates, while ignoring vandalism and violent acts against pregnancy centers in churches, and that’s not justice” said Amy O’Donnell, communications director at Texas Alliance for Life, “We’re very grateful to representative Chip Roy for seeking to protect peaceful pro-lifer’s from the weaponization of the FACE act so that they continue.”

It would be a long overdue, and welcomed change as 97% of FACE act prosecutions have been against pro-life advocates.

By: Daniel Perreault

“Just because you’re given a difficult diagnosis doesn’t mean that abortion is the only answer,” Cooper said.

Texas has some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the nation. Cooper, who works as a public policy analyst for Texas Alliance for Life, said she doesn’t want to see any expansion of the very narrow exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban.

“We don’t want our laws weakened to allow those children to be aborted,” Cooper said. “They deserve to be protected by law, and those mothers deserve to be supported.”

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who represents Texas, was slated to be the featured speaker with top billing at the rally, but couldn’t make it in person as the Senate has been working through the weekend to vote on President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks. Cornyn sent an audio message that organizers played at the rally. In it, he praised the abortion laws that are on the books in Texas.

“I can say without a doubt that Texas is the most pro-life state in the entire nation,” Cornyn said. “We have set an undeniable example of how to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

In the early days of the 89th legislative session, there’s been a push among top Republican leaders to clarify when Texas doctors can perform abortions.

By: Emily Brindley

Joe Pojman, the founder and executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, said his organization wants to focus on educating doctors and other health care workers about the abortion ban as it stands — without rewriting the law itself.

“We don’t think the law needs to be changed,” Pojman said.

Pojman pointed to the lack of guidance from medical groups, and faulted them for the ensuing confusion among medical providers. The Texas Medical Board did issue guidance in June, but did not list specific exceptions to the abortion ban.