Texas has been and will continue to be a leading defender of unborn babies in America, Gov. Greg Abbott told a large crowd Saturday in Austin.
Abbott spoke to the Texas Rally for Life, which drew thousands of people to the state capitol to mark the anniversary of the infamous U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, the Houston Chronicle reports.
“It’s been 45 years since Roe v. Wade, and since then, Texas has become the national leader in defending life,” Abbott said. “As governor, I will fight for every child to have a chance at life.”
The pro-life governor shared a personal story about choosing life for his daughter, Audrey, 21 years ago. Abbott said his daughter recently made the dean’s list at her college, according to the report.
Abbott and his administration have been dedicated to defending unborn babies. They currently are fighting a series of legal challenges by the abortion industry.
In 2017, the state legislature passed a ban on brutal dismemberment abortions that tear unborn babies limb from limb while their hearts are beating. While abortion activists are challenging the protective law, Abbott’s administration is expected to defend it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.
This year, Texas lawmakers also strengthened a ban on the sale of aborted babies’ body parts by requiring that abortion facilities bury or cremate the babies’ remains. They cut off additional funding streams to the abortion giant Planned Parenthood as well.
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The legislature passed and Abbott signed a total of 10 pro-life laws in 2017, according to the report.
The pro-life governor also personally advocates for unborn babies and women. Abbott recently wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to restore funding to the state women’s health program, which provides support to low-income women without giving money to abortion providers.
“As you know well, many of the Obama administration’s policies ran directly counter to these values by liberalizing the use of taxpayer funds to support abortion providers or their affiliates,” Abbott wrote to Trump earlier this month. “But even worse, in some cases, the Obama administration took punitive action against states like Texas that pursued pro-life policies that did not fall in line with the administration’s agenda.
“Fortunately, the retaliatory actions taken by the Obama administration can be easily reversed. Reinstating federal funding for Texas’ women’s health program provides an additional opportunity to put those values into action, all while supporting health care access for Texas women,” the pro-life governor stated.
On Saturday, Abbott reminded the crowd that the fight is far from over. He said abortion activists “are marshaling their forces to take over this capitol and reverse” the pro-life gains that Texas has made.
“Working together, we will keep Texas the most pro-life state,” Abbott said.
