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In the United States, more state abortion restrictions were passed in 2021 than any other year since Roe v. Wade was decided. One of the most draconian of these was the SB8 inaptly named the Heartbeat Law, enacted by Texas Republicans.

Texas Republicans extreme abortion ban has no exception for rape or incest, and is designed to prevent doctors from being able to freely carry through with medical practices that are unquestionably in the best physical, mental, and emotional interest of the mother.

Furthermore, a record number of states have taken action to prevent many qualified family planning providers from participating in their Medicaid programs, undercutting access to a broad range of reproductive health care services including contraceptives and preventive care such as cancer screenings for low-income people.

With the Dobbs ruling, Americans can no longer rely on federal protections to protect their right to bodily autonomy, and for that reason state officials have outsized power compared to the previous decades.

Access to abortion is not only a fundamental matter of our right to privacy but also a matter of equity and personal and public health:

Policy Proposals from Beto ORourke for Governor:

All Texans deserve the freedom to make their own decisions about their own body, their own health care, and their own future. We deserve the freedom to decide if, when, and with whom to start a family.

Beto trusts Texas women to make their own health care decisions.

Abbotts eight years of attacks on reproductive freedom have shuttered womens health clinics across the state, making it harder and harder for women to receive a cervical cancer screening, maternal health checkup, or family planning help of any kind. On his watch, Texas ranks dead last in the nation for access to prenatal and maternal health care, which helps to explain how our statethe ninth largest economy on planet earthhas one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world.

In addition to using every tool available to repeal Abbotts dangerous abortion ban, Beto will veto any future legislation that seeks to further control women, including Republican proposals to limit access to contraception, prevent Texans from crossing state lines to seek reproductive care, and prosecute businesses that pay for employees to seek care in other states.

While strengthening investments in affordable contraception, cancer screenings, and other crucial family planning services, Beto will also support healthy babies and combat Texas maternal mortality crisis by expanding Medicaid and increasing pregnancy Medicaid eligibility to one-year postpartum.

Policy Proposals from Mike Collier for Lt. Governor and Rochelle Garza for Attorney General:

Mike Collier will fight to ensure that women and their doctorsnot politiciansmake decisions about their own healthcare.

As Lt. Governor, he will work to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into state law. He will put an end to the constant culture wars that have consumed our state government and pit Texan against Texan.

Indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Republicans showed with their lawsuit to block protections for women who are in a medical emergency that theyll stop at nothing to exert control over Texans and steamroll Texans with their extreme, far-right ideologies. This is not about being pro-life. This is about forcing birth, even if it will literally kill women.

As our next Attorney General, Rochelle Garza is committed to defending the rights of women and pregnant people whenever theyre threatened, and will not pursue litigation to implement Texas trigger law nor prosecute abortion providers, including doctors who provide life-saving treatment. In the words of Rochelle Garza: Abortion care is health care, and health care is a human right.

While extremist Republicans on the Supreme Court overruled Roe with Dobbs, President Biden signed an Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services. This Executive Order builds on the actions his Administration has already taken to defend reproductive rights by:

The Presidents Executive Order takes additional steps to protect patient privacy, including by addressing the transfer and sales of sensitive health-related data, combatting digital surveillance related to reproductive health care services, and protecting people seeking reproductive health care from inaccurate information, fraudulent schemes, or deceptive practices.

Issuing new guidance to address how the HIPAA Privacy Rule protects the privacy of individuals protected health information, including information related to reproductive health care. The guidance helps ensure doctors and other medical providers and health plans know that, with limited exceptions, they are not required and in many cases, are not permitted to disclose patients private information, including to law enforcement.

The Attorney General will provide technical assistance to states affording legal protection to out-of-state patients as well as providers who offer legal reproductive health care.

While Texas Republicans at the state level stripped people of their reproductive autonomy and freedom, Democrats have delivered for abortion rights not just at the federal level, but also at the local level:

Austin City Council led the way with the GRACE (Guarding the Right to Abortion Care for Everyone) Act that essentially relegates abortion cases as the lowest level of priority by the Attorney General, thus rendering SB8 ineffective within the city.

Officials in Travis, Bexar, Nueces, Fort Bend, and Dallas Counties have sought out similar protections, as well as the cities of Houston, San Marcos, and Denton.

Travis County District Attorney Jos Garza has said his office would not prosecute crimes under the law. Enforcing this law will not only fail to promote or protect public safety but will also lead to more harm, he reiterated in a statement Thursday. Our office will continue to fight for and protect womens rights and use our discretion to avoid tragedy and preventable harm in our community.

San Marcos City Council Member Maxfield Baker said San Marcos Police Departments directive is comparable to Austins GRACE Act. Everything is so new that our community members are afraid. They dont know whether or not police officers are going to pursue this or where its going to land on their priority list, Baker said. I want to send the right message to our community that we have their backs, were looking out for them and that we share some of these concerns because were still in these uncertain times.

Having Democrats in positions of power at city, county, state, and federal levels all serve as backstops to either circumvent or overrule the horrifying agenda of anti-abortion advocates in order to give bodily autonomy and the right to medical privacy back to Texans.

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FACT SHEET: How Democrats Will Deliver for Abortion Access in Texas - Texas Democratic Party