AUSTIN — Texas officials and others vowed to do more to stop abortion during the Texas Rally for Life on Saturday. Hundreds gathered at the annual event held on the south steps of the Texas Capitol.
“Our work, as people who support life, is not even close to being done,” said Gov. Greg Abbott, who spoke at the event. “We must now live up to the fullness of being pro-life. We must protect babies after they are born. We must protect the lives of the mothers who give birth.”
Abbott also called on the state legislature to not only support the state’s Alternative to Abortions program, but to go farther. Alternatives to Abortions provides counseling, material assistance and social services, among other things, for up to three years after birth. During the 2021 Legislative Session, lawmakers allocated $100 million to the program.
“We must double those efforts to protect both the mother and the child,” Abbott said.
The rally was the first since the fall of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortions.
Almost immediately after the ruling this past summer, all abortions ceased in Texas as the state reverted to pre-Roe legislation that remained on the books. While legal challenges followed, a trigger law went into place about two months later, cementing the end to legal abortion in Texas.
However, a year prior, Texas was already severely limiting abortion care through its 2021 Senate Bill 8, also known as the Heartbeat Act. The bill banned abortions after a heartbeat was detected, around six weeks of pregnancy and before many people knew they were pregnant.
The law also introduced an enforcement mechanism allowing citizens to sue anyone who aided and abetted an abortion, with the potential to result in a monetary penalty of up to $10,000. It was later replicated by other states.
Cindy Serna, a San Antonio resident at the rally, said the laws Texas has passed in favor are reassuring, but she hopes the event encourages Texans to remain vigilant, adding that even though abortions are illegal in the state, it is highly dependent on who is elected to office.
“I hope (people) aren’t complacent,” she said. “Just because abortions are illegal at the state level now, we need to keep it that way in Texas.”
Brockley King Moore, of Killeen, said he hopes the event inspires people to continue the fight beyond Texas borders and work to make abortion illegal in every state.
“We need to keep advocating until everybody knows that all lives are important,” he said.