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2012 Texas Rally for Life on Saturday, January 28, at the Capitol in Austin

AUSTIN, TX -- On Saturday, January 28, thousands of Texans will gather at 15th and Colorado Streets in Austin and march to the state Capitol to show the media and our elected officials that Texas is PRO-LIFE!

The 2012 Texas Rally for Life commemorates the 39th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, which made abortion legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy. In the wake of Roe, legal abortion in our nation has claimed the lives of more than 53 million unborn children and has hurt countless women and men.

The Rally will feature pro-life Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is defending our state's Sonogram Law in federal court and will administer the Choose Life license plate fund to promote adoption. Also speaking will be Carol Everett, a former director of abortion facilities, who is now a pro-life leader.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Lt. Governor David Dewhust will also speak as special guests!

Visit the Texas Rally for Life website.

Songram Law Again Considered by Federal District Court in Austin

01/19/2012 AUSTIN, TX -- A federal court in Austin will again conduct a hearing on the constitutionality of the Texas Sonogram Law, House Bill 15, passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Rick Perry last May. The hearing will be on Friday, January 20, at 2 pm at the federal courthouse in Austin, 200 West 8th Street. The hearing is open to the public.

Only last week the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans completely overturned a preliminary injuction that had prevented enforcement of key provisions of the law, declaring that all provisions of the law to be constitutional and clearing the way for the law to be enforced.

Nevertheless, the hearing will be on the question of a permanent injuction, whether the court will prevent enforcement indefinitely, which the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights has asked the court to issue. Defending the Sonogram Law is a team of lawyers from the Office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Texas Alliance for Life's Executive Director, Dr. Joe Pojman, and Director of Public Policy, Dina Moore, will be present in the courtroom and will post updates on Facebook. To follow, visit www.facebook.com/TexasAllianceforLife.

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Texas Sonogram Law

01/10/2012 NEWS ORLEANS, LA -- A three-judge panel on the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the Texas sonogram law and ordered a lower court in Austin to remove a temporary injunction that prevents enforment of key provisions.

The Fifth Circuit's decision is available here.

"We are thrilled that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court acted improperly by preventing complete enforcement of the Texas Sonogram Law," said Joe Pojman, Ph.D., TAL's executive director. "Women deserve the protections of the Sonogram Law, including the right to see the image of the unborn child and to hear the child's heartbeat, if they wish. Abortion providers can no longer deny women this critical information."

"Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, states may require a physician to provide a pregnant women considering abortion with truthful, nonmisleading information that might be relevant to her decision to undergo the procedure. That is all the State of Texas requires in House Bill 15."

In November, Texas Alliance for Life filed a scholarly amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to defend the constitutionality of the Texas sonogram law, House Bill 15.

A copy of the Texas Alliance for Life's brief is available here.

House Bill 15, authored by Texas State Rep. Sid Miller (R-Stephenville), sponsored by Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), and signed by Gov. Rick Perry in May, raises the standard of care regarding informed consent for abortion to the level that a patient would expect for any other medical or surgical procedure.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), representing a San Antonio abortion facility called Reproductive Services and Dr. Alan Braid who performs abortions, sued in federal court in June to prevent enforcement of House Bill 15. On August 30 Judge Sam Sparks in Austin issued a preliminary injunction against enforcing key provisions, including the right of a woman to see the image of her unborn child and to hear the heartbeat. The CRR has 14 days to appeal.

NEWS RELEASE: Texas Alliance for Life Endorses David Dewhurst for U.S. Senate

11/17/2011 AUSTIN, TX -- Texas Alliance for Life today announced its endorsement of long-time pro-life advocate, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, for U.S. Senate. Dewhurst was the first of many federal endorsements that the organization will make leading up to the primary elections in March. His steadfast commitment to helping pass pro-life legislation over the past eight years as lieutenant governor made the decision an easy one.

Joe Pojman, Ph.D., Executive Director for Texas Alliance for Life, said: "The lieutenant governor has been a friend to the unborn and most vulnerable since well before he entered public life. Thanks to his leadership, Texas is one of the most pro-life states in the nation. We are honored to endorse him for United States Senate and know that he will continue to uphold a pro-life platform at the federal level."

Over his years in office, Lt. Governor Dewhurst has a solid record of success. He supported funding for compassionate alternatives to abortion, passed numerous substantial pro-life measures, including the Woman's Right to Know and Prenatal Protection Acts and a strong law requiring parental consent for abortions performed on minor girls. He has opposed state funding for embryonic stem cell research and human cloning while supporting life-saving adult stem cell research and treatments, and successfully prevented funding of abortions with state and federal dollars.

"Governor Dewhurst has been one of the most supportive leaders of the pro-life movement in Texas," Pojman said. "However, this past session outranked the rest with the passage of the Sonogram Bill, the Choose Life license plate bill, and the defunding of Planned Parenthood by as much as $58 million over the next biennium. None of this could have been done without the lieutenant governor's help and leadership. We are very grateful for his service to Texas and want him to continue in Washington, D.C., which needs his proven leadership."

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst is one of several Republicans running for the United States Senate in 2012. No other person has as solid and long-standing a record as Dewhurst, making him the natural choice for the endorsement. Dewhurst is a military veteran, a rancher, and a businessman. He lives in Houston with his wife, Tricia, and their daughter Carolyn.

Texas AG Rules State May Exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid Family Planning Program

2/17/11 AUSTIN -- Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an opinion affirming that the state may exclude providers that perform abortions or are affiliates of abortion providers from a Medicaid program. A provision in state law intended to exclude Planned Parenthood from contracting to provide family planning services to low-income women in the Women's Health Program is not preempted by federal law. The Texas Legislature passed the provision into law in 2005. However, the Texas Health and Human Services Committee, the agency charges with administering the Medicaid program, did not fully implement the policy, and Planned Parenthood has been receiving at least $6 million per year.

Read the opinion HERE.

The opinion came at the request pro-life state Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville).

Read the request HERE.

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