By: Adela Uchida

“Now we’re seeing those drugs trafficked illegally into our state. Right now, in Houston, we see a lawsuit by a husband against three women because they helped his wife obtain an abortion,” said Amy O’Donnell with Texas Alliance For Life. “We’re excited to see where that case goes, what we hear. The reality of it is they do harm women.”

RELATED| Split opinions over the three women sued for wrongful death following abortion

O’Donnell says studies in Finland show up to 40 percent of women who take abortion drugs have complications, but the National Institutes of Health says abortion pills have a two percent complication rate. First-trimester surgical abortions have a 1.3 percent complication rate.

By: Amy O'Donnell

When we heard about Amanda Zurawski’s case specifically, my organization consulted with six well-informed doctors in this area of medicine. When Zurawski was in her 18th week, well before viability, she suffered from a rare but severe condition known as preterm premature rupture of membranes, or PPROM. In other words, her water broke. Because the unborn baby was so young, there was little chance for her baby to survive. Without intervention, Zurawski’s life was in danger from infection. All six doctors said the standard of care is to induce labor with the intent to save the mother’s life, knowing that, sadly, the unborn child would not survive, and to do so without waiting until the woman’s death is imminent or for the baby’s heart to stop beating. All confirmed this is permitted under Texas law.

Unfortunately, that is not what her physician did. Her doctor waited until Ms. Zurawski developed sepsis before providing the appropriate treatment. Tragically, she lost her baby, and she almost lost her life. But that had nothing to do with Texas law. It is a dangerous lie that lifesaving care is not permitted under Texas pro-life laws. The language of the life of the mother exception in Texas law is clear: no woman with a life-threatening pregnancy should be required to wait before receiving treatment from her physician.

Much misinformation and confusion have been widely perpetuated regarding the life of the mother exception within Texas pro-life laws. However, Texas’ laws are carefully crafted to allow doctors to promptly treat women with life-threatening conditions without the risk of criminal or civil liability. The exception language in our more recent laws is the same language put into law in 2013 to protect unborn babies from abortion beginning at 20 weeks. No physician has been prosecuted for performing abortions to save the mother’s life under that law.

By: Selena Simmons-Duffin

Still, these laws are not as sweeping as some seem to think, law professor Sepper says, and none should apply in Miller’s case.

“First, all of them exempt the pregnant person,” Sepper explains. “Second, none of them apply outside the borders of Texas, so abortions performed in Colorado or California are not covered.”

Amy O’Donnell of Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion rights group, concurs with Sepper’s interpretation of the law. “Our Texas Alliance for Life attorneys believe there is a constitutional right to interstate travel,” she says. “They believe that Texas will not be able to ban interstate travel for abortion, just as we cannot ban individuals from traveling to another state to participate in casino gambling, which is not legal in Texas.”

By: STEPHEN ELLIOTT

Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas state Senate, has signaled he might be willing to take up the exceptions question. “I am not saying no, but we’d have to see a real groundswell of Republicans in the House and Senate to say yes,” Patrick told Spectrum News’ Capital Tonight in a December interview.

Amy O’Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance for Life, says her organization is “definitely against a rape-incest exception in our abortion laws,” though the group supports exceptions for medical emergencies. O’Donnell adds, however, that her organization has not withdrawn support from anti-abortion rights lawmakers who support rape and incest exceptions.

In Wisconsin, some GOP leaders also are interested in adding exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban, a law dating to 1849 that was reactivated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. But the situation in Wisconsin is complicated, because while Republicans control the legislature, Gov. Tony Evers is a Democrat.

By: Frank Pavone

At the Austin rally, we listened to Dr. Joe Pojman, founder and director of Texas Alliance for Life. And as he spoke these words, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one in the crowd who realized we were living a dream come true.

He mentioned that Roe has been reversed and children can again be protected in law. He called it “an unmitigated victory…,” and it is.

The Governor also highlighted Texas’ comprehensive pro-life efforts to protect the life of both the child and mother, including providing more than $100 million for the Alternatives to Abortion program.

The Governor was joined at the rally by Texas Alliance for Life Executive Director Dr. Joe Pojman, Bishop Joe Vasquez, and other pro-life faith leaders, advocates, and elected officials. Hosted annually by the Texas Alliance for Life, the Texas Rally for Life brings together pro-life advocates, faith leaders, and elected officials from across the state to march to the Texas Capitol in support of every Texan’s fundamental right to life.