By: JOHN HANNA, KIMBERLEE KRUESI and HOLLY RAMER
Some abortion opponents argue that it’s better to focus on providing help to pregnant women and make adoption less expensive so they don’t choose abortion. Texas recently allocated $100 million for such services.
“I want the Legislature to continue to focus on providing and promoting these alternatives to abortion,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life.
By: Daniela Altimari
State-level activists say their work isn’t done.
“The pro-life movement is not going away,’’ said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, an independent anti-abortion group. “That bumper sticker ‘I’m going sailing,’ I’m not putting it on my car anytime soon.”
Pojman, who founded the alliance in 1988, was there last September when Abbott signed one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws. The measure effectively outlaws the procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy–before many even realize they are pregnant–and allows citizens to sue physicians and others who help facilitate an abortion.
“We think Texas is well prepared for a post-Roe environment with respect to protecting unborn babies from the tragedy of abortion,’’ Pojman said.
Groups opposed to legal abortion hope to replicate the Texas law across the nation.
By: John Hanna, Kimberlee Kruesi and Holly Ramer
“I want the Legislature to continue to focus on providing and promoting these alternatives to abortion,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life.
By: MARK NORRIS
Texas Alliance for Life, executive director Joe Pojman, Ph.D.
“We are ecstatic. The Supreme Court finally remedied a terrible decision made nearly half a century ago that profoundly damaged society in America. Legal abortions have claimed the lives of more than 62 million unborn children and have hurt countless women. That will no longer be the case in Texas. Roe’s unsound and ultimately indefensible reasoning cost the trust of millions of Americans in the Supreme Court. This decision begins to restore confidence in the Supreme Court and its application of constitutional principles.
The Court’s long-overdue decision will have widespread positive changes in Texas. After nearly half a century, Texas can finally protect mothers and unborn babies from the tragedy of abortion, which the Legislature and Governor Abbott have already taken giant preparatory steps to do.
Now the pro-life movement can expend even greater resources toward providing compassionate alternatives to abortion for women with unplanned pregnancies. Our goal continues to be to build a society where abortion is unthinkable, and women with unplanned pregnancies take full advantage of the vast resources available to them.”
By: https://www.vox.com/authors/anna-north
For now, mainstream anti-abortion groups say they remain committed to punishing providers, not patients. “We firmly believe that women should not be prosecuted for abortion, whether self-managed or through an abortion provider,” said Amy O’Donnell, director of communications for the group Texas Alliance for Life.
But Republican state lawmakers, some backed by more radical abortion opponents, are beginning to break with this ideology. Earlier this year, for example, Louisiana state Rep. Danny McCormick (R) introduced a bill that would allow people who get abortions to be charged with homicide, an offense punishable by life in prison without parole.
By: Madlin Mekelburg
“If the court’s final ruling is similar to this, it will be the answer to almost 50 years of prayer and hope,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of the anti-abortion organization Texas Alliance for Life. “It will have completely returned the question of protecting unborn babies back to the states.”
Should the court strike down Roe v. Wade, Texas would be among 13 states to outlaw the procedure almost immediately, under a so-called trigger law set to go into effect 30 days after an opinion from the high court.
Under the law, it would be a felony to perform an abortion, except to save the life of a pregnant patient or if the patient risks “substantial impairment” of a major bodily function. There would be no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. Doctors who perform illegal abortions could face life in prison and fines of up to $100,000.