You’ve probably heard the phrase “abortion is on the ballot” before every election. But what does that actually mean?
If a candidate does not believe that all Texans have a human right to make decisions about their own bodies and futures, the version of governance they would champion does not support our right to healthcare, a living wage, and other resources that help us to thrive — whether they say it plainly or not.
It’s concretely true that each time you vote for an elected leader, you decide the future of abortion access in Texas.
In some races, that choice seems more obvious — like your vote for who will represent Texas in the U.S. Senate:
Ken Paxton, who spent his political career attacking Texans’ freedom to access abortion, allowing Texans to die under the abortion ban, and is now attacking abortion providers outside of Texas?
Or James Talarico, a champion for reproductive rights and an Avow Texas endorsee for U.S. Senate?
The Unexpected Impact of Your Vote on Abortion Access
A U.S. Senator has an obvious impact on national abortion policy and access, as someone who can draft and vote on national legislation.
But your vote can also shape local offices, local ordinances, and elect people who directly appoint government officials who make vital decisions about your life.
Just last month, Texans learned that the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (MMMRC)’s biennial report — which was due for public release on September 1 — will be delayed until after the 2026 Midterm Election, and it still won’t include data from 2022 – 2024, the first two years after the fall of Roe v. Wade. A timely report allows for lawmakers to file legislation informed by the data and recommendations in it.
“Not only does the state not want to be held accountable for the crisis they manufactured, the non-partisan body tasked with reviewing that crisis is getting caught up in the red tape of politics.”
“The new timeline does not match the urgency of this crisis. The stakes are too high to delay this report any longer.”
Avow Texas CEO raven e. Freeborn in the Texas Observer
This politically motivated, irresponsible delay was requested by the TX Health and Human Services Commission’s head, Stephanie Muth.
Muth was appointed by TX Governor Greg Abbott — whom you can vote out of office on November 3.
From local school boards that can allow anti-abortion centers to “teach” sex education (i.e. spread propaganda, stigma, and misinformation) inside of Texas public schools to local city councils who can cover Flock cameras in your community that could track your travel outside of Texas to obtain a legal abortion — your vote holds immeasurable implications for abortion access.
Economic Justice is Not Possible Without Reproductive Justice — Including Abortion Access
In an election cycle where “affordability” has taken center stage, we cannot have the full conversation about what Texans deserve without centering reproductive justice.
Reproductive justice goes beyond abortion access: It demands we build power for governance that centers our ability to live, eat, make decisions about our own bodies, have children when and if we choose, and raise those children in communities with fully funded public schools, free from gun violence and state-sanctioned violence at the hands of our government.
Economic justice is a cornerstone of reproductive justice — Texans cannot enjoy economic prosperity without basic human rights, and economic justice is about more than the dollars in your bank account. It’s about having the freedom to access the resources you need to thrive.
People seek abortion for economic reasons; trans people are the lowest-paid demographic; Black women are the most educated and being laid off at the highest rates; ICE is tearing apart families and kidnapping people who are the heads of their households and the breadwinners who make sure their families can survive.
Our leaders owe us more than band-aid policies that temporarily reduce housing, food, and healthcare costs.
Yes, we are in dire need of these changes — but how do we ensure our ability to thrive doesn’t disappear with the next election? How do we dismantle the systems that have made our lives unaffordable?
Vote for What Texans Deserve
We need leaders who will commit to culture change and reject the idea that our basic freedoms are “culture war” issues. We deserve leaders who will de-stigmatize abortion by talking about it as a basic human right and committing to overturning Texas’ abortion ban.
When we can make decisions about our own lives and bodies, have access to quality public education regardless of zip code, and are safe from state-sanctioned violence at the hands of law enforcement, we have true control over our economic security. These aren’t side issues that are independent from economic justice — they’re central to it.
A Texas governed by reproductive justice is a Texas where we can thrive, not merely survive. We are contending for governing power rooted in care and abundance.
We must vote for leaders who help us build this Texas. And we will hold them accountable to that vision, no matter who is elected to lead us on the statewide and national stage in November.