Texas Alliance for Life Celebrates Two-Year Anniversary of Dobbs Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

Austin, TX -- Monday, June 24, marks the second anniversary of the historic Supreme Court decision, Dobbs v. Jackson, overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the authority to regulate abortion to the people and their elected representatives. Texas Alliance for Life celebrates this momentous occasion and the substantial gains that the State of Texas has made. During the last two years, Texas has provided vast resources for women with unplanned pregnancies, newborns, and young children. Also, legal protections throughout pregnancy for unborn children from elective abortion went into effect. Reported elective abortions have plummeted from thousands each month to zero. In rare and tragic cases when pregnancy endangers a woman's life, doctors continue to perform abortions under the medical necessity exception in the law.

"We are proud that, when Roe was overturned, Texas was well prepared to protect mothers and unborn babies from the tragedy of abortion," said Dr. Joe Pojman, Executive Director of Texas Alliance for Life. Hundreds of pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies have provided alternatives to abortion to hundreds of thousands of women, and the Human Life Protect Act, a top legislative goal of our organization in 2021, provides complete legal protection to unborn babies from abortion."

"As we celebrate this anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to building a culture of life in Texas -- to make abortion unthinkable as we educate Texans on the vast resources and support available to help women and families in need. The more women become aware of the resources available, the less likely they will be to seek chemical abortion drugs trafficked illegally into our state, putting their health, lives, and future fertility on the line, or travel out of state to end the life of their unborn child through abortion," Pojman added.

Background: 

• The Texas Human Life Protection Act, passed in 2021, went into effect shortly after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The law includes a provision allowing abortions in rare cases where the pregnancy endangers the mother's life or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment to a major bodily function. During the first 19 months after Dobbs, reported elective abortions plummeted from thousands per month to zero. During that same time, doctors have performed 91 abortions under the medical emergency exception, according to data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

• On May 31, the Texas Supreme Court released its opinion in Zurawski v. Texas, finding the Human Life Protection Act to be constitutional and clear. 

• On June 21, the Texas Medical Board issued rules explaining the exception language for physicians who treat pregnant women. 

• In 2023, the Texas Legislature passed SB 24, creating the Thriving Texas Families Program as a continuation of the highly successful Alternatives to Abortion program, and appropriated $165 million. 

• For uninsured pregnant women with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level, the Legislature appropriated $2.35 billion for the state's Medicaid program for prenatal, childbirth, and follow-up care for mothers and babies for 12 months. The Medicaid program pays for more than half of births in Texas.

• The Legislature continues aggressively funding women's health services, appropriating $446 million for various free services for low-income women, including breast and cervical cancer screenings, family planning services, pregnancy testing, pelvic examinations, sexually transmitted infection services, mammograms, and screening and treatment for cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure. The state's Healthy Texas Women website lists thousands of providers across the state.

• Additionally, in 2023, the Legislature passed laws eliminating the sales tax on diapers, menstrual supplies, and many pregnancy-related supplies. The Legislature also provided protections for pregnant and parenting college students and eight weeks of paid parental leave for state employees.

• Recent estimates by the Guttmacher Institute of a large number of Texas women going out of state for abortions may be unreliable. The latest official number provided by the Health and Human Services Commission is only 4,718 out-of-state abortions for Texas women in 2022.