KATIE COURIC MEDIA

Still, for the most extreme anti-abortion groups, HB 7 doesn’t go far enough. As the Houston Chronicle notes, Abolish Abortion Texas says it falls short because it protects pregnant women from litigation, “thereby denying equal protection of the laws.”

 “Our laws should deter everyone in Texas from murdering preborn children, whether they are third-party abolitionists, the fathers of the children, or the mothers of the children,” JR Haas, the group’s vice president, said in a statement.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

State Rep. David Lowe, a Republican from North Texas who was wearing a big “ABORTION IS MURDER” pin on his lapel, made a speech before the vote explaining that he was abstaining from the vote because he doesn't think HB 7 goes far enough. Exempting women from liability means it denies “equal protection” to all fetuses. Lowe instead supports a bill that would equate abortion to murder and open up women to life imprisonment or the death penalty.

“Bills like this do everything but abolish abortion,” Lowe said. “They provide a way to say we’re winning on the issue while preventing it from being solved.”

THE TEXAN

Among the key aspects of HB 7’s committee substitute, laid out by Leach on Thursday night, was the alteration to the award of damages, so that if related to the affected preborn child, whether the woman or her family, an individual may collect the full $100,000 in such a lawsuit. If unrelated, the individual may be rewarded $10,000 in damages, while the remaining $90,000 would be donated to a charity.

Amid the Democratic speeches against the legislation was state Rep. David Lowe (R-North Richland Hills), who spoke neutral on HB 7. He was joined at the front mic by state Rep. Brent Money (R-Greenville) as he stated that he could not support bill because “HB 2197, the bill that would completely abolish abortion and provide for the equal protection of the unborn, was killed in a committee during the regular session by many of the same pro-life groups and individuals that are now backing this bill… They’re not fighting for equal protection. They’d rather let children continue to die than be considered too extreme.”

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Not all anti-abortion groups are on board with the bill. The most far-right group, Abolish Abortion Texas, says it doesn’t go far enough because it protects pregnant women from litigation, “thereby denying equal protection of the laws.” Texas’ abortion bans also protect the pregnant woman from liability.

“While there are some women who are coerced into abortion, the vast majority of women who obtain abortions are willfully choosing to murder their preborn children,” JR Haas, vice president of the group, said in a statement. “Our laws should deter everyone in Texas from murdering preborn children, whether they are third-party abolitionists, the fathers of the children, or the mothers of the children.”

THE CHARITON BEACON

Missouri’s abortion debate has entered a dangerous new chapter. With Amendment 3 looming on the November ballot, the legislature had an opportunity this year to secure equal protection for unborn children once and for all. Instead, they chose political compromise, and in doing so, abandoned both their moral duty before God and the very principles they claim to defend.

The Foundation to Abolish Abortion exists for one simple, unwavering purpose: to see abortion abolished in every state, with no exceptions and no delays. Their mission is rooted in the conviction that God commands civil authorities to uphold justice without partiality, not to regulate the killing of the innocent, but to end it completely.

WWNR RADIO

The Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act, if passed, would assign personhood at conception, giving fertilized eggs the same civil and criminal protections as “born” people, therefore making abortion homicide, as well as targeting certain forms of contraception and IVF.

Issue 1 gave Ohio citizens the right to make reproductive decisions, including abortion, which would make HB 370 unconstitutional, Firsich said. However, anti-abortion groups, such as the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, said Issue 1 should be treated as “null and void” as it contradicts the U.S. Constitution.

THE FEDERALIST

In May 2022, Louisiana Southern Baptist Pastor Brian Gunter successfully recruited state representatives to sponsor the Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act. The bill passed committee 7-2 along party lines and was scheduled for a floor hearing, the first abortion abolition legislation anywhere in the country to make it that far. Sadly, Gunter was about to face opposition from his own denomination’s leadership.

Following the publication of the letter, Republicans helped defeat the bill. Self-managed abortion remains legal in Louisiana today, partly due to Leatherwood’s treachery. As I stood among those abolitionists, the betrayal hit like a gut punch: Our own denomination’s leaders sided against life and the SBC’s 2021 Resolution on Abolishing Abortion.

THE HILL

On July 9, Texas Governor Greg Abbott added “Protect Unborn Children” to an expansive special session call sheet, allowing new anti-abortion legislation to be taken up in the 30-day special session.

As of Monday, eight anti-abortion bills had been filed in the Texas House: House Bill 163 by State Rep. Brent Money, R-Canton, would treat unborn children as full citizens for certain felony offenses.

KETK

HB 163 outlines aspects of abortion, including how far along the pregnancy is, the circumstances that would call for an abortion and how unborn children will be viewed under this bill. The bill states that a fetus is seen as a child from the moment of fertilization through birth and after birth. The intentional death of an unborn child caused by either the mother or a doctor will be viewed as against the law.

“We need our laws to reflect what I think that most Texans already believe, which is that abortion is murder and we shouldn’t have abortion,” Money said. “This is the only way that we can truly address the problem in a direct way.”

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Abolish Abortion Texas said the only legislation it will be supporting at this point in the special session is House Bill 163. “No other proposal would truly abolish abortion in the state,” the organization’s president Bradley Pierce wrote in an email.

While Senate Bill 2880 received significant traction, Pierce said his organization doesn’t believe it would impact the flow of abortion-inducing drugs in Texas and “would leave pregnant women vulnerable to coercion.”

GREENVILLE HERALD-BANNER

State Rep. Brent Money filed House Bill 163 on Tuesday, marking the only bill in the current special legislative session aimed at fully abolishing abortion in the state by granting preborn children equal legal protections under existing murder, assault and wrongful death laws.

Bradley Pierce, constitutional attorney and president of both Abolish Abortion Texas and the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, supports House Bill 163 as a stronger measure than previous anti-abortion proposals. Ben Zeisloft, communications director for the foundation, noted the bill “would establish equal protection of the laws for preborn children in Texas.”

THE WESTERN JOURNAL

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America professes to believe that human life starts at conception and that preborn babies should receive protection of the laws from that moment forward, and yet their legislative advocacy efforts in recent years have subverted that stance.

In the aftermath of Dobbs and following the overturn of Roe, every single organization claiming to oppose abortion must now prove their commitment not only in word, but also in deed. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and other longtime pro-life establishment groups are no exception.

THE GUARDIAN

This year, Republican lawmakers in at least 10 states introduced bills defining abortion as homicide, and, for the first time, criminalizing both the provider and the patient.

No such bill has passed yet, and anti-abortion organizations are usually quick to renounce them publicly, nervous about widespread opposition. But their passage might not be far off. The bills are based on fetal personhood, the concept of conferring full legal rights to a fetus from conception forward.

THE WESTERN JOURNAL

After the overturn of Roe, abortions are rising across the country, easily surpassing one million murdered babies nationwide every year and eclipsing rates seen during the last years before Dobbs. The states led by Republicans are no exception, because many pro-life laws championed by the pro-life establishment have loopholes keeping self-induced abortion fully protected.

There is tremendous urgency toward ending this shedding of innocent blood in our country. Christians especially have the duty before God to serve as salt and light in the public square, admonishing our elected officials to establish equal protection of the laws for preborn babies.

ONE AMERICA NEWS NETWORK with MAKENNA BLACKMAN

Makenna Blackman, a host with One America News Network, and Austin Beigel, the president of End Abortion Ohio, discuss the recently filed Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act.

EVERETT POST

The “Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act” would overturn the amendment to the Ohio constitution, voted on in 2023, that establishes “an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion” before viability.

Beigel said he has been working with Republican state Reps. Levi Dean and Jonathan Newman on the bill, which uses the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause — part of the Fourteenth Amendment — to override Ohio’s constitutional amendment. Beigel said the co-sponsors will be announced on Wednesday.

WONKETTE

Michigan State Rep. Josh Schriver has introduced legislation that would classify abortion as a homicide and also change the definitions of every criminal statute involving homicide, assault, and battery to also apply to “an unborn child in the same manner as they would if the victim were an individual who had been born alive.”

“House Bill 4671 is the first legislation in Michigan state history that would establish equal protection of the laws for preborn children,” Foundation to Abolish Abortion President Bradley Pierce said. “This bill would simply make murdering anyone illegal for everyone, in recognition that preborn babies are image-bearers of God and are just as worthy of legal protection as people who have already been born.”

THE DAILY WIRE

Advocates of criminalization often clash with traditional pro-life groups, who say that criminalization will drive more women to underground abortions and lead them to stop turning to crisis pregnancy centers for help.

This year, the debate has played out across the country — from North Dakota to Georgia, from Texas to Missouri — where Republican lawmakers have proposed “equal protection” bills that would criminalize abortion. According to the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, 16 criminalization bills have been introduced across 14 states so far this year, with support from 122 Republican lawmakers.

NEWSMAX

Republican Michigan State Rep. Josh Schriver wants abortion to be classified as murder. He has introduced a two-bill package in the Legislature to accomplish that goal in what is likely to be an uphill battle.

Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022 upholding an individual’s “right to reproductive freedom” and that the state may not prosecute anyone for pregnancy outcomes, including “miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.”

ABORTION EVERY DAY

State Rep. Josh Schriver has introduced legislation that would punish abortion patients as murderers. HB 4671, which would codify fetal personhood, is similar to the “equal protection” bills we’ve seen introduced in more than a dozen states across the country.

Schriver doesn’t have the votes, and abortion rights are protected in the state constitution. But as I’ve pointed out again and again, these bills are gaining support (and cosponsors) by the day. And I’m sick of Republicans saying these are fringe efforts with no future while they gain ground right in front of our faces.