It’s a Dark Day in the Lone Star State when Pro-Life Groups Agree with Planned Parenthood on Protecting Abortion Access
Texas has a reputation for being one of the most conservative states in the Union. The Republican Party of Texas’s platform, as chosen by the voters at the annual convention, articulates the importance of God, the sanctity of life for the pre-born, marriage between a man and a woman, and personal liberty as the foundation of Texas values.
And all politicians who caucus with the Republican Party of Texas are expected to “uphold these truths through acknowledgment and action.”
There are no exceptions. No one is supposed to join the party, with this platform, holding crossed fingers behind their back.
These facts mean that one would expect the Republican Representatives elected by Texas voters, and the legislation put forward in our majority Republican House and Senate, to reflect and further these priorities. Many salt-of-the-earth evangelicals spend their weekends block walking and donating in the hopes of making a difference for themselves and their fellow Texans. If any state in the nation should be able to make good on its principles and uphold its party platform, Texas has the best shot.
But our greatest enemy in the struggle over these cultural issues is turning out not to be Democrats or the moderate voters.
It’s the Republicans.
I am a freshman Representative in the Texas House. Several years ago, I would have been simply “pro-life” and assumed that with the recent slate of heartbeat bills that were signed into law, abortion was practically outlawed in Texas.
But since running for office and with the help of faithful pastors and friends, I now see that there are still tens of thousands of babies being murdered right here in Texas, completely legally, via the abortion pill. Tens of thousands more travel out of state to procure abortions every year.
That is why my first and most important piece of legislation that I filed during my first session was House Bill 2197, which closes the last loophole keeping abortion legal in Texas. It would make Texas the first state in the nation to fully abolish abortion and afford the unborn all legal rights and protections from the moment of their conception.
If this goal seems ambitious or idealistic, it is nothing less than the second principle of the Republican Party of Texas, which is: “The sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, [should] be equally protected from fertilization to natural death (emphasis mine).”
Given how “controversial” it is to pursue true and equal justice for the preborn under the law, I was delighted that HB 2197 was scheduled for a hearing in the criminal jurisprudence committee. The hearing was supposed to take place just this past Tuesday, April 22. This would have been the first abolition bill heard in committee this decade.
But the ostensibly pro-life group Texas Alliance for Life got wind of the hearing. Despite claiming their mission is “protecting the fundamental right to life of all innocent human beings,” Texas Alliance for Life sent out emails opposing my bill over the weekend. It urged individuals to contact the Republican chairman of the criminal jurisprudence committee, John Smithee, to implore him to kill the bill. They have a long history of opposing anti-abortion legislation in Texas, going back more than a decade to some of the first restrictions proposed in 2013.
On Monday night, with dozens of activists from all over Texas and the country traveling to Austin to testify and support HB 2197, Chairman Smithee pulled the bill from the hearing schedule. I heard from the Chairman that it was at the behest of Republican Speaker Dustin Burrows’ office, and the Speaker’s office insisted that it was the Chairman. HB 2197 had 20 co-sponsors and significant grassroots support. But now it may never even be heard in committee.
The main takeaway of this story cannot be overstated: Legislation to protect the unborn from the moment of conception was killed by Republicans and pro-life organizations.
The Chairman is a Republican. The Speaker of the House is a Republican. Republicans hold a sizeable majority in the Texas House and Senate. Texas Alliance for Life endorses Republican candidates.
And yet, when it came to actually considering legislation that was completely in line with the Republican Party of Texas’s stated priorities, these so-called Republicans came out in force to oppose and kill the bill. Planned Parenthood even celebrated HB 2197 being pulled from the hearing schedule.
Who would have thought we’d see the day when “conservative pro-life” politicians and advocacy groups work hand-in-hand with Planned Parenthood to kill a bill that would end abortion?
Thousands of wonderful Christian families, parents, and activists pray, donate, and blockwalk every election cycle, hoping to make a difference in Texas, especially for the unborn. They elect Representatives like me and vote on platforms like our current Republican Party of Texas platform. They think that we are all on the same team and share the values that we expected to rally around.
But again and again, the values that are so fundamental to the health, flourishing, and safety of Texas fail to be enshrined into law. But they do not fail because of Democratic opposition or lack of support. They fail because many Republicans and pro-life groups “[love] the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:43).” They don’t want to take a principled stand and pass legislation that could be unpopular.
Since I first ran for the state house, I’ve made my Christian faith a central part of all my political efforts. I don’t leave my Christian beliefs behind when I enter the Texas State Capitol Building. I’m also a Southern Baptist, one of millions in Texas. Many of my fellow state representatives and state senators are Baptists, too.
In 2021, the Southern Baptist Convention unequivocally voiced its support for the abolition of abortion, stating that:
“Because abolishing abortion is a Great Commission issue, we must call upon governing authorities at all levels to repent and “obey everything that [Christ] has commanded,” exhorting them to bear fruit in keeping with repentance by faithfully executing their responsibilities as God’s servants of justice, and working with all urgency to enact legislation using the full weight of their office to interpose on behalf of the preborn, abolishing abortion immediately, without exception or compromise (Mark 6:18; Matt 28:18-20; Rom 13:4, 6).”
My bill, if enacted, would have achieved this righteous goal. But because of cowardice and compromise, it now won’t even get the initial hearing it deserves.
So, for my beloved Baptist brothers and sisters in Texas and across the United States, please be careful about who you support with your charitable gifts, time, and prayers. Are they in favor of the complete and total abolition of abortion? Will they at least support anyone who does?
Because if we continue to simply support someone because they have an “R” by their name or claim to want to protect life, we will never achieve justice for the fatherless and protection for the innocent.
