Texas House and Senate Have Passed Choose Life Plate Legislation

Follow the latest status of the bills at Texas Alliance for Life. Hot Issues tells you what you can do to help.

Gov. Rick Perry applauds Senate for passing SB 1098

In an April 30 statement, Texas Gov. Rick Perry applauded the Senate for passing SB 1098 to create a Choose Life license plate for the state of Texas.

This license plate will give Texans a subtle but meaningful way to express their personal views, while supporting pregnant women making the decision to choose adoption.

The pressure is on now for the House to pass the same bill and allow it to come to Perry’s desk for his signature.

Show support at Senate panel meeting April 8!

The Senate Transportation Committee will hear testimony on the Senate Choose Life bill, SB 1098, on Wednesday, April 8 at 7:30 am in Capitol Extension Room E1.016. Please come out to show your support!

Even if you can’t be there right at the start or can only stay for a short time, be sure to stop by and register in support of the bill. At the House panel meeting last week, representatives of the ACLU and NARAL came out in opposition to making the Choose Life license plate an option for Texas drivers. Your support and presence is vital!

Call 512.477.1244 for more information.

Joe Pojman, Ph.D., testifies on April 2 before the House Transportation Subcommittee on License Plates in support of HB 109. The stack of petitions, including more than 14,000 signatures, sits on the ledge to his left.

HB 109 needs your support Thursday, April 2!

Come to the state Capitol tomorrow to support the Choose Life license plate bill!

The Choose Life license plate bill, HB 109, will be heard in the House Transportation Subcommittee on License Plates tomorrow, April 2, at noon or upon adjournment of the House.

If you’re in or near Austin, please stop by the Transportation Subcommittee hearing in room E2.026 to fill out an affirmation card in support of HB 109.

Questions? Call 512.477.1244. 

We hope to see you there!

News Conference Photos

 

 

Governor Perry endorses the Choose Life license plate bill (HB 109) at a Dec. 18 news conference.

 

 

Governor Perry endorses the Choose Life license plate bill (HB 109) at a Dec. 18 news conference.

Rep. Larry Phillips (R-Sherman), author of HB 109, announces he expects broad bipartisan support for the bill during the upcoming legislative session.

Joe Pojman, Ph.D., executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, thanks Gov. Perry and Rep. Phillips for their support of HB 109.

Kimberly Guidry Speirs shares her story of how adoption has touched her life, both as an adopted parent of a beautiful son, Michael, and as a hotline worker who has shared the option of adoption with women experiencing crisis pregnancies.

At least 15 different media outlets were represented at the news conference.

Members of various pro-life organizations, as well as individuals and families whose lives have been touched by the issue of infant adoption as a compassionate alternative to abortion, attended the news conference to support HB 109. In this photo are representatives of Act of Life (an adoption awareness organization), Concerned Women for America of Texas, and the Diocese of Austin Office of Pro-Life Activities and Chaste Living.

Governor Perry announces support for HB 109

 

HB 109: Making a Choose Life license plate a reality in Texas

 

 

In a news conference today, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his support for House Bill 109, which would create the Choose Life license plate in Texas. 

The Governor’s Press Conference Room was jam-packed at the 2:30 p.m. event, with dozens of supporters–as well as a few opponents of the bill–in attendance. (Watch the news conference online!)

Several media outlets have covered the event. Among them:

CBS affiliate KEYE Channel 42 announced the news conference this morning in a report by Bettie Cross: “Gov. Perry to Endorse Pro-Life License Plate Design.”

ABC affiliate KLTV Channel 7, The Austin American-Statesman, the Star-Telegram, KHOU, and The Houston Chronicle all ran versions of the AP report on the press conference. As more news reports are made available, they will be posted on the “Endorsements and Articles” page at www.TXChoose-Life.org.

Check back soon for pictures from the news conference!

Choose Life bill among pro-life bills pre-filed November 10

With the endorsement of Texas Alliance for Life, H.B. 109 was pre-filed Nov. 10 by State Rep. Larry Phillips (R-Sherman).

H.B. 109 and its companion bill in the Senate, to be filed by Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) would create the Choose Life specialty plate for the state of Texas. Should this bill become law, Texas will join 10 other states with a Choose Life license plate, including all states bordering Texas. Choose Life plates have raised more than $9 million to promote infant adoption as a compassionate alternative to abortion in other states.

If you haven’t already done so, please sign the online petition to encourage your lawmakers to vote for the Choose Life license plate. And don’t forget to use these tools to help you contact your elected officials and encourage them to support this bill! Your input will make a difference!

Three other pro-life bills were also filed with the support of Texas Alliance for Life. S.B. 73, filed by Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Lewisville) would create an adult stem cell research program in Texas that would not involve human embryos or embryonic stem cells. S.B. 182 and H.B. 36, filed by Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) and Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio), respectively, would improve abortion facility health standards by requiring providers to make more information available to women considering abortion, including the opportunity to see the image of the unborn child and to hear the unborn child’s heartbeat.

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TAL joins Texas Catholic Conference on Relevant Radio

On Nov. 14 TAL Executive Director Joe Pojman, Ph.D., and the staff of the Texas Catholic Conference discussed post-election life issues on Relevant to You.

Among the topics was the Choose Life license plate bill that will be on the table when Texas legislators meet in January. Both Pojman and the TCC staff urged listeners to become active in the legislative process by educating themselves on the issues at stake and letting legislators know where they stand. Our voice needs to be heard on the Choose Life license plate bill and on other legislation that will affect life issues.

The show’s hosts stressed the importance of this especially in regard to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a federal act that will have dire consequences for religious freedom and established pro-life legislation if made into law.

TAL Executive Director Joe Pojman joins TCC staff for the November edition of Relevant to You.

Texas Lutherans for Life Endorse Plate

TAL is grateful for the endorsement of the Choose Life license plate in Texas by Texas Lutherans for Life:

Texas Lutherans for Life (TeLL) endorses the Choose Life license plate in Texas as the purchase of these plates to encourage Texans to promote adoption rather than abortion in cases of unplanned pregnancies…

May God bless this initiative to promote LIFE

The letter of endorsement, signed by TeLL President Oma Jean Amundson, was dated October 22.

Sen. Lucio to author Senate bill

Sen. Eddie Lucio

Texas Alliance for Life is pleased to announce that state Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) has agreed to author the Senate bill for the Choose Life license plate in Texas. Sen. Lucio is a strong advocate for adoption. He is on the Senate Finance Commitee and serves as Chairman of the International Relations and Trade Committee.

Stay posted as we draw closer to filing the bill to create the Choose Life license plate!