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Dear #Changemakers,
As you know, Texas has implemented the most stringent anti-abortion law in the country, limiting abortion access care to the first 6 weeks of pregnancy, without any exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal abnormality.
Meanwhile, 70% of Texans in a recent poll said that they wanted Roe v. Wade to remain the law of the land and that they wanted Texans to benefit from its protections. As we mount the legal arguments and resources necessary to push back on Texas’ abortion ban, I think it is vital that we focus our attention on some important realities.
First, it is important to note that the vast majority of people in Texas who will be stopped from terminating an unwanted pregnancy are those in the lowest socio-economic spheres of our state and women of color. People of privilege will continue to access abortion care by traveling to other states to do so. I am grateful to the abortion funds across Texas who are doing everything they can to help provide needed resources for other pregnant people to do the same. Research has confirmed what we intuitively understand— the inability of people to terminate unwanted pregnancies deepens poverty and contributes to the deepening of systemic racism. Texas abortion funds are working hard to lessen this impact by providing needed access now.
Second, the decision to pass this abortion ban into law was made primarily by white men who are part of a radical evangelical-based movement that is not reflective of who we are as a state. What we are experiencing in Texas is not only a violation of our country’s founding principle separating church and state, it is also an ever-increasing example of minority rule— where a small, narrow interest group is able to dictate the outcome of policies that have an impact on the majority of people who live here.
That reality reaffirms why I founded Deeds Not Words in the first place. If we cannot elevate the voices and power of young women, particularly young women of color in our state, we will never see policymaking that reflects their voices, their lived experiences, or their futures. And I am more committed now than ever to play whatever role I can in upsetting the status quo.
I am forever grateful for every one of you, Changemakers. For your courage, your resilience, and your willingness to create the change that will provide you with the future you deserve.
Much love,
—wendy
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