Media Quotes + Clips
On-Camera Interviews
"We're seeing that there is really no respect for sanctity of life from the people who keep saying that they value life so much," Emily Witt, communications and media strategist for the Texas Freedom Network, said.
In Texas there is a near total abortion ban outside of a medical exception when the mother is, “at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless the abortion is performed or induced.”
The Texas supreme court ruled that Cox did not meet that criteria.
"This case certainly shows us that no one is immune from abortion bans," Witt said.
Emily Witt with the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for LGBTQ rights, said investigations like the one launched by the Attorney General could have ripple effects on children’s medicine across the state.
"When we pass laws like this, we keep talented, competent, passionate doctors from wanting to work in Texas because their ability to live up to their oath, to serve their patients — is becoming illegal,” Witt said.
“It’s very egregious to us that after the deadliest school shooting in Texas public schools, only almost a year ago, we wouldn’t be using these funds to keep our kids safe from being shot in our schools. But instead, we would be hiring religious leaders, which violates the religious freedom of Texas families and students while not actually keeping them safe,” Witt said.
“For a member to come out and say that they're going to be in Texas schools when they haven't gone through proper channels, as an elected official is really worrisome. You know, looking at the educational materials, they're not educational materials, they're propaganda," said Emily Witt, of the Texas Freedom Network, a watchdog of the far right.
Print Interviews
"Teens have even less access to deciding their futures and their pregnancy outcomes than ever, honestly, in the state of Texas." – Emily Witt, Texas Freedom Network
Abortion advocates like Emily Witt, a 30-year-old spokesperson for Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based advocacy group partnering with churches statewide that believe abortion is "a moral and social good," said that Cox faced life-threatening risks if she continued with the pregnancy.
"There's really not an exception in this ban," Witt said. "The language is so vague and that's intentional so that people can't actually ever get the care that they need, because life is not really the thing that they're trying to defend here. They're trying to control women's bodies."
Contact Emily
ewitt.lynn@gmail.com
Austin, TX