Pro-Life Texans have long known that Representative Sarah Davis (R- West University Place) is anti-Life. From cozying up to Planned Parenthood for photo ops and opposing Pro-Life measures on the House floor time and again, Davis has shown where she stands on Life. Under the, now ended, reign of Joe Straus, Republican-In-Name-Only (RINO) Davis was appointed to powerful positions on the Calendars Committee and the House committee that writes the state budget. From these influential seats, Davis was in a position to dramatically affect the course of Pro-Life bills and the funding of the abortion industry in Texas.
This week, Pro-Life Governor Greg Abbott announced his endorsement of Davis’s primary challenger Susanna Dokupil. Governor Abbott explained in an endorsement video, “Susanna worked alongside me to defend Texas values when I was the attorney general.” One of the most important values held by the majority of Texas voters is being Pro-Life. He added, “I trust Susanna, and I know that voters in House District 134 can trust her, too, to fight for their needs in Austin, Texas.” Davis’s anti-Life record is so blatant that the governor, a member of her own supposed party, has intervened early in the primary with the decisive endorsement of her opponent.
This follows Davis’s opposition to not only the three abortion-related Pro-Life bills that Governor Abbott prioritized during the special session earlier this year, but the anti-Life Republican also publicly opposed and attempted to stop the common-sense Pro-Life Do-Not-Resuscitate Order bill in the special session that simply required patient or surrogate consent before a DNR order is placed in a patient’s medical file.
Because of her outspoken opposition to central planks of the Texas Republican Party platform, some in the Texas Legislative circles have even considered using Rule No. 44, adopted by the Republican Party of Texas, where legislators face censure and potential penalties. As Raging Elephants Radio noted, Davis did not “allegedly” violate the party platform but has openly and publicly violated the core principles of the Republican Party of Texas on many more than three occasions.
The Pro-Life planks of the Republican Party of Texas, which were adopted at the Convention in 2016, include multiple endorsements for specific Pro-Life policies and general statements of Pro-Life guiding principles like, “The sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, should be protected from fertilization to natural death.”
Her failure to protect the preborn and the health and safety of women as outlined by notable votes like her opposition to the Dismemberment Abortion Ban, stricter abortion reporting requirements, and Pro-Life Health Insurance Reform comes as no surprise to Texas voters who have been paying attention. Davis has never pretended to hold Pro-Life values and has openly worked with Planned Parenthood allies.
Despite her anti-Life position and votes, House leadership propped up Davis by appointing her to a key position in the budget subcommittee that writes the Health and Human Services section of the state budget. When pressed by Texas Right to Life and Pro-Life House members, Davis refused to increase funding for the life-affirming Alternatives to Abortion program and opposed efforts to adopt strong budget-wide language to keep taxpayer dollars away from abortion providers and their affiliates.
Not only has Davis taken her voting cues from abortion giant Planned Parenthood’s agenda, she also received hefty campaign contributions from the organization that kills more preborn babies in abortion every year than any other abortion business in the United States. Raging Elephants lists the numerous financial contributions Davis received from Planned Parenthood between 2014 and 2016. The sum of the money, given to advance the killing of the preborn and the taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, amounts to more than $20,000.
The endorsement and financial support of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion mill, is incompatible with the Republican Party of Texas that stands for Life. The Governor’s public denunciation of abortion supporter Sarah Davis is a much-needed reminder that the Republican Party of Texas must be united in Pro-Life values. With the resignation of Joe Straus and his crony Byron Cook, the Texas Legislature has an opportunity to advance the Culture of Life in the next session. Revealing the anti-Life RINOs still remaining in the party is an important step to ensuring that success.