Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, June 30, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton: Abortion is Illegal In Texas

• After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, different abortion clinics asked the courts to pause a pre-Roe law still on the books that would essentially make abortion illegal in Texas. As Emily Wilkerson reports, a Harris County judge granted the temporary pause on Tuesday.
     
• Attorney General Ken Paxton responded: laws outlawing abortion are still “100% in effect & constitutional.” He added that his office would immediately appeal the state court’s decision. 
     
• “Although some government officials are temporarily blocked from enforcing the pre-Roe statutes against certain abortion facilities, the law is still valid and abortion is no longer a ‘lawful medical procedure,’” noted Texas Right to Life attorney Emily Cook. “This means that abortion is considered homicide under the Texas Penal Code and can be prosecuted as such.”
      
• Even with the temporary pause on the old law outlawing abortion, the new Heartbeat Act is still in effect, limiting abortion to situations where a heartbeat has not yet been detected. Meanwhile, a “trigger” law in Texas – put in place to ban all abortions if Roe was ever overturned – is now on track to take effect in less than 30 days.

Bexar County Sheriff Won’t Enforce Abortion Laws…

• Following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last week, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Democrat, has announced his department will not investigate reports of illegal abortions being committed. Jake Peterson has the details.
      
• “As their Sheriff, it is absolutely none of my business,” said Salazar. “I will not persecute Texas women or anyone else pursuing those same rights.”
     
• Persecute? Really? Sheriffs are supposed to uphold the law by conducting investigations. Is Salazar admitting his office regularly abuses his power to actually persecute people?

Will Taxpayers Fund The Aiding And Abetting Of Illegal Abortions

• The short answer? Yep.
   
• Under the guise of “economic development,” state government is funneling taxpayers’ dollars to corporations that are now promising to break state laws regarding abortion. Sydnie Henry reports those companies include Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, Amazon, Meta, Google, and Goldman Sachs.
     
• For these corporations’ bean counters, getting rid of the child in the womb by dismemberment, poisoning, or other common means is certainly cheaper than maternity leave.
     
• Meanwhile, abortion activists and businesses have already begun suing the State of Texas over its pro-life laws. 
      
• “I anticipated this and am ready. They will lose. Texas laws defending the unborn will win,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton this week.

Parent: McKinney ISD Wants To Silence, Intimidate Taxpayers

• In an apparent continuation of policies designed to squelch citizens’ free speech, McKinney Independent School District passed a measure allowing school staff to eject parents from district property for any behavior “deemed inappropriate,” without warning or due process. Erin Anderson has the details.
      
• Under their status as a “District of Innovation,” the school district is exempting itself from state laws governing how attendees at school events are treated. Parents say they intend to file complaints with the Texas Education Agency.
      
• “That’s not innovation, that’s intimidation,” McKinney resident Lee Moore told school trustees at a meeting this week. “Being an innovative district means trying different things that will benefit students or support teachers. Instead, you are using the [District of Innovation] status as your cover to silence and intimidate parents.” 

Crouch Fights Back

• After helping tens of thousands of homeowners fight their rising property taxes – for free – North Texas realtor Chandler Crouch has found himself and his freedom of speech the target of apparent revenge by a local government bureaucrat, Randall Armstrong. 
       
• Armstrong has been the director of residential appraisal at the Tarrant Appraisal District… and he apparently didn’t like Crouch’s success in helping citizens lower their tax bills. As Scorecard previously reported, Armstrong began filing complaints against Crouch with the state agency that oversees real estate licenses. The petty abusiveness is appalling, which might be why the TAD board of directors is reportedly meeting later today to discuss firing Armstrong and his boss, Chief Appraiser Jeff Law.
      
• Texas Scorecard’s Robert Montoya made multiple attempts to contact Armstrong for comment. He declined, citing “an ongoing matter in the office” and saying, “I just prefer not to make any comments about anything.”
      
• Crouch, though, has been speaking out. Check out Robert Montoya’s report to learn why fighting back is always the right course of action.

GOP Priority: Secure Our Elections

• Juliana Berg explores the background of the Texas GOP’s legislative priority focused on election security. 
     
• The issue is one of eight deemed a legislative priority by the grassroots delegates to the party’s biennial state convention earlier this month.

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.