Photos and video from the press conference can be found here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2026
AUSTIN, Texas — Avow Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, and Planned Parenthood Texas Votes today held the “Our Bodies, Our Democracy” press conference preceding an interim hearing in the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs concerning both voting access and medication abortion.
Texas elections are safe and secure, but lack accessibility. While lawmakers waste time deliberating the ‘safety’ of elections due to propagandized non-threats such as ‘non-citizen voting,’ real Texans have been disenfranchised by the legislature’s own laws. In the Spring primaries, voters who rely on curbside voting were shocked to find that they were now required to swear on oath on penalty of perjury that they were unable to physically enter the polling place to vote curbside, thanks to HB 521 (2025).
“Texas’ ban on medication abortion is yet another political attack on a safe, effective form of health care that millions of Americans rely on. Anti-abortion politicians keep trying to substitute their ideology for science and their ‘morality’ for Texans’ own decisions,” said Shellie Hayes-McMahon (she/hers), Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes. “If the Texas Legislature is serious about protecting women and children, they should focus on evidence-based policies — not continuing their obsession with controlling our bodies.”
“While it may seem like the issues of reproductive rights and voting rights are unrelated, they are joined at the hip. Reproductive rights and democracy both hinge on the same thing: autonomy,” said Veronikah Warms (she/her), Texas Civil Rights Project Voting Rights Policy Attorney. “Without the freedom to choose our path, for ourselves, for our state, for our country, what on Earth does liberty and justice for all even mean?”
Legislation concerning each item on today’s interim hearing was passed nearly a year ago during 2025’s second special legislative session. The session was called under the guise of addressing disaster preparedness following deadly flooding in July 2025. However, the session focused on policies targeting abortion access, limiting access to public facilities for transgender Texans, and redrawing Texas’ congressional voting maps.
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Avow Texas (avowtexas.org) is unapologetically pro-abortion. Together, we’re building our power for reproductive justice-centered governance and transforming Texas into a place where every person is trusted, thriving, and free to pursue the life they want.
The Texas Civil Rights Project is boldly serving the movement for equality and justice in and out of the courts. We use our tools of litigation and legal advocacy to protect and advance the civil rights of everyone in Texas, and we partner with communities across the state to serve the rising movement for social justice. We undertake our work with a vision of a Texas in which all communities can thrive with dignity, justice, and without fear.
Planned Parenthood Texas Votes is the nonpartisan policy, advocacy, and political arm of the three Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas. We work to ensure that Planned Parenthood patients in Texas can access quality, affordable reproductive health care and education they need, free from political attacks, legislative barriers, and with the support of state and local governments.