While many local leaders in the state's largest cities and counties acted swiftly to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Texas early on, the reactions of state Republican leaders to the crisis was much slower. Then after belatedly issuing a shelter-at-home order and closing nonessential businesses, Gov. Abbott and other Republican leaders have apparently decided that enforcement shouldn't inconvenience their own political base -- and Texans of color apparently don't count for much there. Read More

So now the truth comes out: anti-abortion activists paid Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision in 1973, to support their efforts later in her life. Their willingness to cheat and lie to ban abortion has been exposed for all to see. Check out our press release:…… Read More

Gun extremists are threatening violence over public health orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what are Republican Texas officials doing about it? Nothing. Read More

As most Texans try to protect their families during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's become increasingly clear that the state's Republican leaders are putting politics ahead of public health. Consider, for example, state Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, comparing a Dallas salon owner who kept her shop open in defiance of public health orders to Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi. Really.…… Read More

Friends,

At the Texas Freedom Network, we are committed to putting the public interest at the center of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted to update you on the precautions TFN is taking to keep our staff, young leaders, volunteers and supporters safe. To that end, we are implementing the following measures:

We are asking all our employees to work remotely from now until March 29. We are also suspending our Texas Rising field program and all public meetings and gatherings through that time period out of concern for our organizers, volunteers, supporters and our communities. We are committed to keeping part-time field staff on our payroll as we determine contingency plans to ensure that the important work of TFN continues, including moving forward with our voter registration efforts in different ways. In the next week, we will announce a major new advocacy program to promote key policy changes (both emergency and long-term) that this health crisis has made clear are long overdue in our state — from earned paid sick time to online voter registration and more.

We encourage local communities to follow guidance as provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at cdc.gov. Our… Read More