For Immediate Release
Sept. 21, 2021
This week, Texas Freedom Network and its project Just Texas will be joining a delegation from the Trust Respect Access (TRA) coalition, the largest coalition of reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in Texas, will travel to Washington, DC to advocate for federal intervention to protect abortion rights.
The trip comes one month after TFN’s Just Texas project launched the Reproductive Freedom Congregation Designation – a program to recognize congregations throughout the state that are building positive dialogue on reproductive rights and abortion.
Rev. Erika Forbes, Outreach and Faith Coordinator for Just Texas, will be a guest speaker at the Women’s March in DC set to take place on Saturday.
“Our trip to DC is to show the Texas legislature that we will not quit. We are working with the Trust Respect Access coalition to prove this fight is far from over. With faith as our guide, we must create a future where we’re all free to make the personal decisions that shape our lives, futures, families,” she said.
On September 1, Texas banned abortion before most women even know they’re pregnant when (SB 8) went into effect. SB 8 is the most extreme abortion ban in the nation, and if the courts allow it to stand, the law will continue to spread like wildfire to states across the country—just as we’re already seeing in Mississippi and Florida. TFN and the TRA coalition are going to DC to fight for access to safe, legal abortions, not just in Texas but across the nation.
“Access to safe and legal abortions is not just essential to reproductive health—it’s a human right. In the state of Texas, those rights have been all but entirely stripped away,” said Carisa Lopez, Political Director for Texas Freedom Network. “We’re traveling to DC to protect abortion access and call upon the federal government to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act of 2021 (EACH), the HEAL for Immigrant Families Act, and abolish the racist Hyde Amendment. After a coordinated assault on abortion access in Texas, we need Congress to step up now more than ever.”
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The Texas Freedom Network (tfn.org) is a grassroots organization of religious and community leaders and young Texans building an informed and effective movement for equality and social justice.
The TRA coalition includes: ACLU of Texas, The Afiya Center, Avow, Counter Balance, Deeds Not Words, Fund Texas Choice, Jane’s Due Process, Lilith Fund, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, Progress Texas, Texas Equal Access Fund, Texas Freedom Network, West Fund, Whole Woman’s Health, Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, Dr. Bhavik Kumar, and Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi.
