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The Texas Heartbeat Law: An Overview

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US Supreme Court building Dobbs Roe

On September 1, a new heartbeat law (SR 8) went into effect in Texas. If you’ve read our information on heartbeat bills before, you may have assumed that Texas passed a similar law and it was immediately enjoined like all the others. No, the Texas law went into effect. Right now, in the state of Texas, abortion facilities are declining to schedule abortion appointments past six weeks LMP.

In Texas, the vast majority of abortions are now illegal, in spite of Roe and Casey. In fact, in response to an emergency appeal, the Supreme Court declined, in a 5-4 “shadow docket” decision, to prevent the law from going into effect. That decision makes no judgment on the constitutionality of the law; it’s certainly “unconstitutional” in that it violates the precedents of the Court’s prior abortion cases, whether or not Roe and Casey should themselves be considered unconstitutional.

So, how did this happen?

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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But You’re a Privileged White Woman!

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“No uterus, no opinion.” Yeah, we’ve all heard that one before. I spent years training my male pro-life club members how to respond to the charge that men shouldn’t have an opinion about abortion. It came up in every single outreach we did; I’d overhear my co-president Joshua or male club members like Oscar having to defend why they should even be allowed to open their mouths about this controversial topic in the first place.

But then something happened that I never saw coming: pro-choice people started telling ME that I shouldn’t be allowed to have an opinion about abortion. Um, I’m a woman! I have a uterus!! It took me a little time and a lot of clarification questions to figure out what was going on. 

White lady who is upset

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
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Announcing: The ERI Affiliate Group Program

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Are you in a pro-life group? Interested in starting one? Learn from our team of expert pro-life advocates how your group can make an impact for life in your community. ERI Affiliate Groups are pro-life groups of all sizes and types who come together around ERI’s unique approach and apologetics materials in order to maximize their effectiveness in pro-life advocacy. 

Are you a college club? Church group? Youth group? High School group? Right to Life club? Sidewalk Counseling group? Community group? 

Are you just starting out? Already have over 100 members? 

All are welcome here. We’ll meet you where you’re at and be here for every step of your journey. You’ll receive:

  • One-on one, personalized mentoring from one of ERI’s Club Coaches to help your pro-life group reach its full potential.
  • Free lifetime access for an unlimited number of group members to the Equipped for Life Course and Sidewalk Counseling Masterclass.
  • Preferential access and discounts to ERI speakers for events.
  • A set of 50 complimentary ERI Outreach Brochures to use at your club’s outreaches and/or sidewalk counseling after completion of the Equipped for Life Course.
  • Private access to our library of ERI Digital Kits with tips and how-to-guides for running an active and effective pro-life group. Kit topics include:
    • Creating a Professional Club Brand
    • Recruitment & Retainment
    • Running Meetings that Keep Your Members Coming Back
    • Fundraising 101
    • Starting a Pro-Life Outreach
    • Designing Your Own Pro-Life Display
    • Your Club on Social Media 
    • Hosting a Pro-Life Speaker
    • Taking a Trip to the Abortion Facility
    • Building Relationships With Your Local Pregnancy Resource Center

 

For more information and to apply, visit equalrightsinstitute.com/groups 

Together, we can change minds and save lives.

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I Don’t Care What You Call Me: Responding to “Anti-Choice”

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Anti-choice picture and Tweet

Name-calling isn’t new. It’s been a classic bullying and teasing tactic amongst children for centuries, and while our education system tries to eradicate such childish behavior before adulthood, we’ve clearly failed on this one. If you’ve sneaked a peek at any social media website, you’ve certainly noticed that adults show about as much maturity as your average middle schooler in this department. The abortion debate, in particular, brings out the worst in people, and you can find a whole host of names and labels being thrown around from “anti-life” and “baby killers” on the one hand to “anti-woman” and “forced-birthers” on the other. 

While few pro-choice people are actually using terms like “forced-birthers,” many have adopted the term “anti-choice” in order to avoid referring to us as standing for life. Many pro-life people have decided to reclaim the term in response, openly embracing their view as being “anti-the-choice-to-kill” or something like that. A few weeks ago, we received a comment on our YouTube Channel pointing out precisely that:

This comment really got me thinking: How should we respond when someone calls us “anti-choice?” When is it helpful to debate labels, and when is it really just a distraction from the issue at hand?

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes