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I have always believed in reproductive freedom.
The government simply has no business deciding if or when someone should start a family, and a person’s health care decisions should be between them and their doctor.
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But this issue became personal for me when my wife, Aly, was pregnant with our first child in 2018. I went with her to every doctor’s appointment filled with excitement but also a fair amount of nervousness.
You see, I’m the type of person whose brain imagines all the possible outcomes in any given situation.
So as excited as I was, I remember holding my breath during every test and ultrasound, praying everything was okay with our baby – and thankfully, in our case, it was. We have two healthy boys, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Still, I can’t help but think about what would’ve happened if we weren’t so lucky. I cannot imagine being at one of those appointments, finding out something was wrong with Aly or our baby, and then hearing that state law prohibited her from receiving the care she needed.
But that is the horrific reality for Texas women today.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Texas immediately enacted a near-total abortion ban. Not only does the law ban abortion in almost all instances, including in cases involving rape and incest, it also threatens doctors who provide abortions with prison time, fines, and the loss of their medical license, and it gives private citizens the power to sue abortion providers.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, my likely opponent in this Senate race, has been instrumental in implementing and enforcing the abortion ban here in Texas. He’s gone out of his way to punish doctors for providing abortions and even attempted to stop Texans from traveling out of state to access an abortion.
And yes, all this is coming from a Republican Party that espouses freedom and complains about big government. Does this sound like freedom to you?
It’s heartbreaking, infuriating, sexist, and unjust. It endangers the lives of pregnant women. And it’s just one of many reasons we cannot let Ken Paxton anywhere near the Senate.
I’ve talked to so many Texans who are afraid of not being able to access lifesaving care when they need it. Or who have had to travel five or more hours to Kansas, New Mexico, or Colorado to get an abortion they should be able to get from their own doctors. Or, in the worst cases, who have suffered lasting harm from not receiving the timely care they needed. Reporting from ProPublica shows at least three Texas women have died after delays in care.
These are issues no one should have to worry about.
It’s a real shame that we are still having this fight. The Supreme Court never should have overturned Roe v. Wade, but we have Donald Trump and extremists like Ken Paxton to thank for that. Thanks to them, women today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had.
But we’re not giving up – not until reproductive rights are restored for Texans and everyone in this country. If I am lucky enough to represent Texans in the U.S. Senate, I will fight to codify abortion rights at the federal level from day one. I hope you’ll make a donation to help me get there and get it done.
Thanks for reading this.
Colin
Colin Allred is a 4th-generation Texan, former NFL linebacker, and Democratic Congressman running for U.S. Senate. Multiple polls already show him in the lead – including the most recent poll from this race that has him up by 2 points. But with corporate PACs and right-wing billionaires pouring money into Texas to stop him, he relies on supporters like you to fund his campaign. If you believe in his work to defend our rights and root out corruption in Washington, please consider donating to his campaign today.Paid for by Allred for Texas
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