Bill allowing private citizens to sue over abortion pills gets initial OK in the Senate | Texas Tribune

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By: Jessica Shuran Yu, Maria Mendez, Colleen DeGuzman

The Texas Alliance for Life last month 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 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.