Refusing to pass anti-coercion laws puts Texas women at risk

A Houston man is now in custody after he allegedly brutally killed his pregnant girlfriend in August 2010 after she refused to have an abortion.  19-year-old Joseph Mike Devia is facing capital murder charges for the slaying of the woman and her unborn son.  

This report reinforces the absolute need for anti-coercion laws in Texas to protect women and their unborn children.  Texas Right to Life has fought to pass anti-coerced abortion legislation in the Texas legislature that would have protected this young woman and her child.  The victim, Omoyeme Obehi Erazua, would have been able to contact authorities stating her boyfriend was breaking the law by coercing her to seek an abortion through verbal abuse and threats.  She would have been given legal protection, and the boyfriend would have been arrested for breaking the law before the situation escalated into this violent act.  The Anti-Coerced Abortion Act could have saved this woman’s and her son’s Life.  

Pro-abortion members of the Texas House have continuously blocked this common sense, pro-woman legislation.  As a result, more women and teens have been pressured into aborting their children or facing mortal peril at the hands of their boyfriends, family, or others.  

Anti-coercion laws need to be passed and put into place by the state of Texas to protect the innocent among us and the women who so bravely defend their choice to give Life.