By: Maria Mendez, Colleen Deguzman, Terri Langford

The Texas Alliance for Life earlier this week expressed support for revisions to HB 7, including those meant to protect women’s privacy and cap financial rewards for people who are not related to the person who had or sought an abortion.

“It is already illegal to traffic abortion drugs in Texas under the Human Life Protection Act, and our priority remains enforcement of that and other laws,” said Amy O’Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance for Life. “The revised version of HB 7 provides another tool against illegal abortion-by-mail while including vital protections for women.”

By: J. David Goodman

The bill initially divided anti-abortion activists. Some were concerned that it would invite “bounty hunters” to file suits aimed at “profiting from the death of an unborn child to whom they are entirely unconnected,” said Joe Pojman, the executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, in testimony at a House hearing on Friday.

But Mr. Pojman’s group backed the final House version of the legislation after new language was inserted saying that unrelated plaintiffs would only be able to keep $10,000 — with the remaining $90,000 going to a charity of the plaintiff’s choice, as long as the person filing the lawsuit did not have a direct connection or a financial stake in it. The revised bill also does not allow suits to be brought by domestic abusers or by men who committed sexual assault resulting in a pregnancy.

“We are united,” Amy O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for Texas Alliance for Life, said of the anti-abortion advocacy groups.

By: Bayliss Wagner, Taylor Goldenstein

Meanwhile, another influential anti-abortion group in the state says Texas already has strong anti-abortion laws, so any efforts to enhance enforcement should be weighed carefully. Amy O’Donnell, communications director and incoming acting executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, expressed concern that bad actors could seek to file lawsuits for “personal gain.”

“We support enhancing enforcement against illegal distributors and traffickers of chemical abortion drugs,” O’Donnell said. “With that in mind, new legislation should always focus on protecting unborn children and protecting potential harm to women from abusive partners and breaches of privacy for personal gain by non-injured parties.”

By: Taylor Goldenstein

Joe Pojman, the outgoing executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, had testified Friday that the previous version of the bill is “likely unconstitutional, ineffective, and will damage the pro-life reputation of this state.”

“Do we want bounty hunters from anywhere in the country or beyond filing lawsuits in our state, seeking judgments of $100,000 or more? Vigilantes profiting from the death of an unborn child to whom they are entirely unconnected?” Pojman said. “Members, this, in our view, is not a pro-life policy.”

But the group’s spokesperson, Amy O’Donnell, said on Monday that its legal counsel believes the updated version is “constitutionally sound” because it not only shields pregnant women from the lawsuits but also allows them to be plaintiffs.

By: Sally Edwards

The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 33, which prohibits local governments from using taxpayer dollars on abortion-related expenses, just months after Austin’s fund was established. The bill, which supporters say help standardize the state’s policies to reflect Texan’s pro-life beliefs, effectively abolishes Austin’s fund.

“Texas has made it clear through our elected officials that we’re a pro-life state and taxpayer funding for abortion travel or logistics violates both the law and the will of the people,” said Amy O’Donnell, a spokesperson for pro-life nonprofit Texas Alliance for Life.

By: Lauren Boyer

Meanwhile, Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, told The Fix in a recent email the research coming out of the project “seemed to be more of legislative activism than legitimate academic research.”

“We were never fans of the Project SANA and are not disappointed to see that it has apparently been dropped by The University of Texas at Austin,” Pojman said.

He also remarked that, “It is noteworthy that the principal investigator, Abigail Aiken, testified against HB 5510, a pro-life bill considered on April 25, 2025, in the Texas Legislature (House State Affairs Committee),” which exemplifies the point that “Dr. Aiken advocates against pro-life laws, which goes far beyond academic research.”