Over the past few weeks, the Texas Legislature has held numerous committee hearings on the Pro-Life priority bills.
These hearings are open to public testimony and are key opportunities for elected officials to listen to citizens’ opinions and experiences related to proposed legislation.
In March, the House Public Health Committee heard and later passed seven Pro-Life bills, including three of Texas Right to Life’s Legislative Priorities:
- The Preborn NonDiscrimination Act (PreNDA), SB 1173 by Senator Hancock & HB 3218 by Representative Schaefer: Abolishes discriminatory abortions motivated by the gender, ethnicity, or disability of the child and the remaining late abortions.
- The Texas Heartbeat Act, SB 8 by Senator Hughes & HB 1515 by Representative Slawson: Abolishes elective abortions after the point when the preborn child’s heartbeat is detectable by the most common methods.
- The Texas Abolition Strategy, SB 1647 by Senator Perry & HB 3760 by Representative Oliverson: Includes PreNDA, the Heartbeat Act, and ends every remaining elective abortion in Texas by 2025.
During the legislative session, our team of lobbyists works daily with elected officials to pass life-saving measures. But citizen involvement is integral to the advancement of these Pro-Life policies.
The impact of Texans sharing their stories with our elected representatives, and demonstrating the real-life impact of this legislation cannot be overstated.
Dedicated parents like Aly Fish, Adrienne Trigg, Ashley Haden, Rick Smith, and many others came to the Texas Capitol this legislative session to share their beautiful personal testimonies in defense of every child’s Life.
Between the logistics of traveling to Austin and then waiting for hours until finally being called upon to testify, this is not an easy task by any measure.
Traveling to testify is a sacrifice in and of itself, made even more impressive when parents with young or disabled children make the trip to endure long days at the Capitol to share their deeply personal experiences with the committee.
These parents shared with the committee the difficult diagnoses given to their preborn children, the lack of support they faced from the doctors, their fear and sense of loneliness, and in some cases, the discovery of a misdiagnosis after the birth of their perfectly healthy baby.
Some remarkable parents shared their grief in losing their babies with life-limiting diagnoses, and how choosing Life helped them to cope with their losses. These parents related their solace in the knowledge that they had parented their babies as best they could, inside or outside the womb, and their relief that they had not ushered their children to an early grave through abortion.
Parents also described the joy of giving birth to their children and the value of their uniquely beautiful lives, even if those lives might have been short or different than what they had expected.
Some recounted that their frightening diagnosis ended up being wrong, as in the case of Aly Fish. Aly was told that her daughter would be born with extreme abnormalities. She was encouraged to end her daughter’s life through abortion.
In Aly’s case, and in many untold instances, the severity of the diagnosis was wrong. Aly’s now one-year-old daughter is beautiful, strong, and growing. She even took her first steps at the Capitol while her mom waited to testify!
Elected officials are constantly inundated with messages from anti-Life groups attacking Pro-Life reforms. Anti-Lifers advocate that abortion is the best “solution” for preborn children diagnosed with disabilities.
The parents who come to the Capitol to share their personal experiences help combat the anti-Life narrative. They demonstrate to legislators the truth– that all lives, born and preborn, are worthy of protection.
Texas Right to Life thanks these and the many other Pro-Life heroes who come to Austin to courageously share their stories.
When you make your voice heard, you make a lasting impact for Life!
To stay up to date with the progress of the Pro-Life Priority bills this session, text “TXLEGE” to 40273.