August 14, 2025
With his signature cowboy hat, Duke Denman, a Students for Life of America (SFLA) Student Captain at Founders Classical Academy of Leander took on the Texas legislature to lobby for Students for Life Action’s (SFLAction)-inspired Women and Child Protection Act on both July 21st and August 11th.
This legislation would prohibit Online, No Test Chemical Abortion Pill traffickers from distributing these dangerous pills. The bill would also enable civil action against distributors of these drugs, delivering justice while protecting mothers and their preborn children.
After the regular session ended, Gov. Greg Abbott called for a special session in order to pass pro-life legislation, including the Women & Child Protection Act.
In the Senate State Affairs Committee on August 11th, Duke had the opportunity to speak in favor of Senate Bill 6 on his 17th birthday!
Read His Testimony Below:
Thank You, Mr. Chairman and members of the State Affairs Committee,
My name is Duke Denman. I’m a pro-life leader from Cedar Park, Texas, and I’m here as a representative of 1,500 Students for Life groups nationwide, specifically our 108 chapters here in the Lone Star State.
Today also happens to be my birthday and what better way to celebrate it, than by advocating for preborn children in my state to have their birthdays as well! Myself, along with millions of other pro-lifers across the state are passionately urging you to vote in favor of the Women and Child Protection Act!
This bill is crucial because it addresses the grave dangers chemical abortion pills pose to Texans. A study by the Ethics & Public Policy Center found that after taking mifepristone, the first drug in the chemical abortion cocktail, more than 1 in 10 women reported experiencing “infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event.” This means that serious side effects from these pills are 22 times higher than the drug labels suggest.
The Women and Child Protection Act will impose civil liabilities on those distributing these dangerous drugs, while explicitly exempting the woman from any penalties.
By focusing on the traffickers who exploit those in vulnerable situations, this bill could have spared Catherine Herring, a Texas woman whose husband slipped chemical abortion drugs into her drink without her knowledge just last year.
Beyond the immediate health risks to women, and of course, their unborn child—let’s not forget: every single abortion pill takes a human life. But beyond this: the unregulated distribution of chemical abortion pills poses a significant threat to our environment.
After taking the abortion pill, the chemically-tainted blood, placenta tissue, and human remains are flushed down the toilet. These contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals that cannot be fully removed during wastewater treatment, and thus end up in our drinking water.
Make no mistake—we are all drinking people’s abortions! This means that this is not just a pro-life issue, it’s a public health and environmental crisis that demands your immediate action.
Texas is called the friendship state because we protect our own! You must not allow our state to continue being a haven for those who profit from the suffering of women and the death of the preborn. Please vote in favor of the Women and Child Protection Act!
Thank you.
READ MORE: BREAKING: SFLAction Celebrates Return of the Women & Child Protection Act in Texas