If there’s one thing the anti-abortion movement understands, it’s the power of culture. That’s why they’ve spent decades crafting a narrative rooted in fear, shame, and control especially in states like Texas. It’s why they’ve used religion as a weapon, morality as a wedge, and abortion as a litmus test for loyalty to the far-right agenda.
Because here’s the truth: If the public stops seeing abortion as controversial, and if people across faiths, political ideologies, and communities come together to defend it, the far right loses its grip. That’s the threat they’re trying to contain. That’s why they’re afraid of a big-tent abortion movement. And that’s exactly what we’re building.
Representative James Talarico’s recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience offered a glimpse into what that work looks like. He spoke clearly, unapologetically, and compassionately about abortion not as a political calculation, but as a moral issue. And he did it as a Christian, on a platform that reaches millions who don’t typically hear elected officials defend reproductive freedom at all, let alone from a place of faith.
That’s culture change in real time. That’s what terrifies the opposition.
Because when abortion becomes something you can talk about at church, on a podcast, or across your fence with your neighbor when it’s no longer seen as taboo but as part of a just and compassionate society, the anti-abortion movement loses its greatest weapon: stigma.
Texas is the testing ground for that cultural shift. It’s where the opposition has invested the most resources, passed the most extreme laws, and built an entire political identity around controlling bodies. If the far right loses Texas, it won’t just be a policy defeat—it will be a collapse of their cultural strategy. And it will be because Texans refused to be divided.
We saw that refusal in Amarillo, TX, a conservative town when voters, many of whom likely hold personal or religious discomfort around abortion, stood up and said no to an extremist abortion travel ban by nearly 20 points. That ban didn’t fail because everyone suddenly became pro-choice. It failed because people talked to their neighbors, listened to stories, and realized the policy was out of step with their community’s values. That’s the kind of bridge-building that makes the far right panic.
At Avow, we call this work “Affirming Abortion.” It’s about creating the cultural conditions where people feel safe to speak, listen, and shift. It’s about telling stories rooted in faith, survival, and freedom. And it’s about refusing to let the opposition define our values for us.
When abortion becomes a bridge, not a wedge, when it becomes the entry point to organizing, movement-building, and governance rooted in justice, that’s when we begin to build a truly representative democracy. And Texas is where that transformation can start.
The far right sees the writing on the wall. And they’re afraid. Because when Texans come together around abortion, it threatens more than their policies. It threatens their power.
But we’re not afraid of a bigger table. We’re building it.