March is Women’s History Month, and, as it starts, I am thinking of trailblazing Texas women.  Here in Houston March is also Rodeo time, with hats and boots and all things Texas on display.  So much of our Texas identity is about blazing our own trails, facing obstacles in our way, and doing things our way.  And that is certainly true of Texas women.

Did you know that Texas elected a woman Governor in 1924 — the second woman governor in United States history (and only by 15 days)?  Growing up, I was surrounded by strong Texas women and stories of them.

When I was born, Barbara Jordan was representing Houston in Congress.  When I was in elementary school, Kathy Whitmire was Houston’s mayor.  By high school, Ann Richards was Texas’ governor.

Texas women have led this state — and this country — to better days.  But these days, things are getting harder, not easier, for Texas women.  Despite a century of leadership and trailblazing, some lawmakers are focused on taking away the rights of Texas women to make their own decisions about their bodies, their families, and their futures.

We can’t let that happen.  While some in our state (and our Congress) work to take away the rights of women — and through these policies all Texans — many of us are working together to stop them.  After all, it was Texas women who fought for health, privacy, dignity, and freedom of all women in the case Roe v. Wade 50 years ago.

We know that the attack on reproductive freedom won’t stop at overturning Roe.  Anti-choice lawmakers across the country — including here in Texas — want to restrict not only abortion but access to birth control.  We have already seen it.  When the U.S. House passed a bill to protect the right to access to birth control, less than a dozen Republicans in Congress voted for it.

That’s why who is in Congress — and who controls the Congress — matters so much.  I’ve taken to heart the role of Texas women in protecting our rights, and I’m working in Congress to restore Roe’s fundamental protections and to protect the right to travel out of state for reproductive health care.  I’m as committed as ever to ensuring access to safe, affordable, nonjudgmental reproductive health care for everyone.

And I am committed to taking back the House and to electing more pro-choice champions — to Congress, to the Legislature, and to offices everywhere.   Because what we know is that these trailblazing women didn’t just make history, they made life better for people – opening up government, restoring our faith, expanding our opportunities.  

That’s the work before us — and I am so glad to have you as part of our team doing this work.

Together, we can do anything,