Breaking: Heartbeat Law Wins at Texas Supreme Court

Texas Values legal counsel attended the court hearing at the Texas Supreme Court a few weeks ago. The Texas Values Team has been a part of supporting the Texas Heartbeat Law every step of the way.

In its opinion, the Court concluded:

The Texas Heartbeat Law provides that its requirements may be enforced by a private civil action, that no state official may bring or participate as a party in any such action, that such an action is the exclusive means to enforce the requirements, and that these restrictions apply notwithstanding any other law. Based on these provisions, we conclude that Texas law does not grant the state agency executives named as defendants in this case any authority to enforce the Act’s requirements, either directly or indirectly. We answer the Fifth Circuit’s certified question No.
 

Federal Omnibus Bill Passes with Life and Conscience Protections, But Harmful VAWA Language

On March 9th, Congress voted on an Omnibus Bill, which contained both life and conscience protections, as well as harmful language regarding the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). 

On the bright side, the Hyde Amendment language in the omnibus survived. The Hyde Amendment protects against taxpayer money being used to kill unborn babies through elective abortions. Happily, the omnibus included Hyde Amendment language, a rider that has been included in annual appropriations bills since it was introduced by then-Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in the 1970s.  Democrats in Congress tried to strip Hyde Amendment language out of the bill.  The omnibus legislation will also include the Weldon amendment, a rider Democrats also previously tried to drop, that has conscience protections for those who don’t want to provide abortions.  

However, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) language was reauthorized.  While we care deeply about stopping violence against women, unfortunately, VAWA funnels money to Planned Parenthood through Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) grants (Title I, Sec. 101 of H.R. 1620). A March 2018 GAO report showed that Planned Parenthood received $340,000 in funding through these grants over a three-year period (2013-2015).  

National Review author Michael New set the record straight in response to a New York Times article claiming that the decline in abortions in Texas after the Texas Heartbeat Law went into effect was largely offset by more Texas women obtaining chemical-abortion pills through the mail and more Texas women traveling to obtain an abortion in nearby states.  In this article, Mr. New explains the gaps in the data used to push this narrative.

Texas Values Hosts Documentary About How the Left is Trying to Pollute the Minds of Schoolchildren with Inappropriate Sex Ed Material

On March 8th, Texas Values hosted a documentary on how the left is trying to pollute the minds of schoolchildren with inappropriate sex-ed material. Texas Values, along with the organizations It Takes A Family and Concerned Parents of Texas, hosted a public viewing of the documentary of The Mind Polluters. The documentary details the efforts of grassroots volunteers, legislators, and Christian academics to expose and stop the efforts of corrupt organizations and groups that seek to infiltrate the nation's school systems with pornographic and pedophilia materials.

Special guest speaker Steve Munisteri, senior advisor to Governor Greg Abbott gave opening remarks and a special video presentation from State Board of Education Member Tom Maynard. There were 75 parents and community persons in attendance. There will be more viewings in the state later this month sponsored by other organizations. A special thanks to our partners at Texas Public Policy Foundation for helping with advertising the event.

For more information, please reach out to Texas values at [email protected].