Bill that would expand abortion pill restrictions gets OK in Texas House | KENS5

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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.”

Texas Lawmakers Back Citizen Lawsuits to Stop Mail-Order Abortion Pills | New York Times

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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.

Texas Republicans renew push to crack down on abortion pills in special session | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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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.”

Texas’s new ‘bounty hunter’ bill gets blessing from key anti-abortion groups | Houston Chronicle

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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.

‘Taking away a safety net’: How Texas further restricted Austinites’ access to abortion health care | KXAN

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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.

How a little baby named Gemma helped write Texas law | Pregnancy Help News

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By: Jacquelyn Smith

But wait, there is more… collaborating with Texas Alliance for Life, we visited the bill author, Senator Kelly Hancock, and suggested, and the author accepted, life-affirming language that transformed and clarified the meaning of perinatal palliative care.

Fatal language unfairly steals hope from every diagnosis experience, and its effect is pervasive. The original bill text spoke only of the diagnosis of life-threatening disabilities, and the resources offered were focused on the possible death of the child. That perspective sets up the expectation that the baby will die and assumes no hope. It speaks the language of hospice care instead of true palliative care. While some conditions are fatal and hospice is a beautiful and much-needed form of care, it is wrong to assume that every diagnosis fits that narrow definition.