Austin, TX –– Dan Patrick announced his legislative priorities this afternoon that includes two extreme anti-abortion restrictions. 

Avow Executive Director Aimee Arrambide issued the following statement:

This past week was absolute hell for millions of Texans. If there is a takeaway from last week’s energy crisis, it is that if the Texas Legislature had regulated ERCOT and the private sector energy industry to even one-tenth of the degree they have restricted abortion access, this never would have happened. Coming out of this week and seeing Dan Patrick add more abortion restrictions to the priority list is a slap in the face to Texans. 

Abortion is a safe, common, and normal procedure, but it’s already out of reach for too many Texans due to anti-abortion extremists. Dan Patrick putting abortion restrictions high on his legislative priority list while Texans are dealing with the compounded consequences of failed leadership during the ongoing pandemic and our recent energy crisis is a new low—even for Dan Patrick— and he must be held accountable. 

While members of our staff were busy doing mutual aid collecting groceries and formula for families and infants, anti-abortion extremists like Matt Schaefer and Briscoe Cain were vocal about passing a six-week abortion ban as Texans were freezing without food and water. This is the sick leadership that Dan Patrick enables. 

At the start of the pandemic, Dan Patrick went on Fox News proudly claiming that elders would have no problem sacrificing themselves for the economy –– well Dan, too many Texans have sacrificed their safety while you play politics with their health and lives and we’re damn tired of it. 

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