On June 24, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) reversed Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Since then, elective abortion has been illegal in Texas!
An estimated 10,000 Texas preborn children have been saved from abortion since June by the combined pre-Roe statutes and the Texas Heartbeat Act. Now, on August 25, the Texas Trigger Law (House Bill 1280, 87R) will further protect Life by adding enhanced penalties for abortionists who violate the law.
Understanding how these Pro-Life laws work together to defend Life can be confusing. But each layer of these Pro-Life laws build on one another to protect preborn children, mothers, and communities in Texas from the death and damage of abortion on demand.
Active Texas Pro-Life laws include but are not limited to:
Please note: this is not an exhaustive list of Texas Pro-Life laws. All of our other current Pro-Life policies, such as the Dismemberment Abortion Ban and Voluntary and Informed Consent, are still in effect and enforceable. Together, they all work to stop elective abortion in Texas.
Even with this legislation in effect, abortion activists are defying our protections for preborn babies by mailing illegal abortion drugs into the state.
Some derelict elected officials are simply refusing to enforce state Pro-Life policies. The district attorneys in Dallas, Travis, Bexar, Nueces, and Fort Bend counties have sided against Life by rejecting their duty to enforce the law.
Clearly the fight to protect innocent human Life is far from over!
In the upcoming 88th Legislature, we have a lot of work to do to ensure that Texas is not just abortion-free, but fully Pro-Life.
Texas Right to Life will be working toward this goal by prioritizing three legislative categories:
- Fully enforce our current and future Pro-Life laws and hold the abortion industry accountable.
- Build a Pro-Life Texas, including policies like increasing the Alternatives to Abortion program, protecting pregnant college students from discrimination, and streamlining the adoption process.
- Protecting innocent human life by repealing the anti-Life 10-Day Rule of the Texas Advance Directives Act.
As the largest Pro-Life state in the nation, Texas is saving more lives than any other state every single day! Yet, we still have a lot of work to do to build a Culture of Life in our state. Texas has both the resources and the will to protect all innocent human Life, born and preborn. But we need you!
If you are interested in standing for Life and ensuring every Texan is guaranteed their Right to Life from fertilization until natural death, join us this January 28-29, 2023, for the Texas Right to Life Pro-Life Conference in Austin! You will learn all the essentials you need to stand up for the innocent and most vulnerable!
