March 4, 2025 • 39 mins
A complete lack of abortion access and a climate of fear amongst patients and providers has descended over Texas in the past few years. Wendy Davis, former Texas state senator and Senior Advisor for Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, sits down to talk with us about the current landscape for abortion access in Texas and her famous 2013 filibuster.
Texas currently has a complete ban on abortion with extremely limited exceptions. Only a few years prior, in 2021, Texas passed SB 8, which banned abortion at six weeks of pregnancy and allowed virtually any private citizen the ability to sue someone who accessed or attempted to access an abortion. Recent ProPublica research has found data on increased poor health outcomes and death due to the impacts of the present abortion ban. The Texas legislature has denied the data to be reviewed by the state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Repro Fight Back a podcast on all
things related to sexual andreproductive health rights and
justice. Hi. Re pros. How'severybody doing? I'm your host
Jenny Wetter , and my pronounsare she her. So y'all, it has
been another chaotic week andthere are so many things
happening, but I am going tofocus on, last weekend was my
(00:28):
birthday, so I'm actuallyrecording this before my
birthday, so I don't knoweverything that happened, but I
am looking forward to a funweekend, got lunch with some
friends and having a reallychill weekend before getting
back into, like I said, I havea ton of things happening at
work right now that are allhappening all at once. And it
(00:50):
is, I feel, I just feel chaoticand like my inbox is a
disaster. Like I , I thinkDumpster fire does not do it
justice. It is just what is onestage above dumpster fire
because it's bad right now. Um,I'm trying to stay on top of
it, but there are so manythings competing for priorities
at the moment that it just, Ifeel, I feel the chaos
(01:13):
everywhere, but I'm lookingforward to a fun birthday
weekend, and I have some treatsthat have already arrived that
I'm very excited to dig intoand just have a nice birthday
celebration. I have a bigbirthday trip planned later
this year. I'll tell you aboutit after it happens. Um, but
(01:36):
I'm very excited that my momand I are gonna go somewhere.
So I'm very much lookingforward to it. And then, yeah,
I'm trying to think if there'sanything else really big I
wanna talk about. I don'treally wanna talk about all the
things that are happening inthe world right now because
there is so much, and it, likeI said, feels chaotic, but I ,
I wanna keep this intro kind of, uh, light and fun and , um,
(02:01):
I'm very, very excited for thisweek's interview. So maybe
we'll just like go right intothat. We have Wendy Davis with
Planned Parenthood, Texas Boatson , um, to talk about what is
happening in Texas right now.
There was some reporting thatcame out recently talking about
a huge increase in sepsis ratesin Texas. So I wanted to touch
base with someone in Texas totalk about what is happening on
(02:23):
the ground. But I, I justwanted to maybe do a little
fangirling before I had get getto Wendy. I did a little bit
with her, but if you areunfamiliar, Wendy Davis was a
Texas State senator, and in2013, I think she had this
really famous filibuster whereshe stood up for 13 hours to
(02:45):
try and defeat a big abortionbill that was moving through
the Texas legislature. It wasso inspiring. There were so
many people that turned out inTexas to support her. So many
people were following it onTwitter back when it was a
better place. , therewas just this big gathering of
community and this inspirationyou could just feel in the air
(03:08):
for what she was doing. Texashas some really strict, I mean,
really strict , uh, rules forhow filibusters need to be
done. Wendy talks about some ofthem, but one of the ones she
didn't mention is the personwho is filibustering has to
speak on topic. So she couldn'tjust go up and talk about
(03:29):
whatever for 13 hours that sheneeded to talk. She had to be
specific on things related tothe bill. I cannot imagine
having to talk nonstop 13 hourson something specific to a
particular bill. So it was just, uh, so inspiring. I I do, I
just remember checking in on itthroughout the day, sitting in
(03:52):
bed at night , uh, listening into the filibuster and watching
and, and spending time on incommunity on Twitter as it was
happening. And you could justfeel the energy and the hope
that they were gonna stop thisbill. And , and they did,
right? Like they , they stoppedit. Um, at, for that time. It
was later reintroduced andpassed. But, but what Wendy did
(04:16):
was amazing, and it was amazingto see it happen and watch it
unfold in person. And y'all, Iwas so excited to talk to her.
So I tried to keep myfangirling to , to a minimum ,
um, as I try to do on thepodcast what I speak to people
that I am just in awe ofbecause I've had some guests
that I am very inspired by andI , I try not to be too
(04:39):
overwhelmingly nerdy andexcited when I talk to them.
But I did do a little bit withWendy. Uh, so with that, let's
go to my interview with WendyDavis. Hi, Wendy. Thank you so
much for being here today.
Well,
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Hello, I'm happy to be with you.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Before we get started, would you like to take
a quick second and introduceyourself and include your
pronouns?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Sure. My name is Wendy Davis. My pronouns are
she her. I am a former TexasState senator, and I am
currently senior advisor withPlanned Parenthood Texas Votes.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Y'all, I, for any of you who are not familiar with
Wendy, you should definitelylook back and see what she did
during her career. I havevivid, vivid memories of
sitting in bed late at nightwatching your infamous
filibuster and just, it was soamazing and so inspiring to see
you stand up for, what was it,13 hours? Uh, just absolutely
(05:36):
amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Thank you. It was a , it was a group effort, you
know, that was back in 2013,who knew that that would be the
glory day of abortion rights inTexas, right . But we were
fighting what was known as ,uh, trap law, which was a
targeted regulation of abortionprovider. Of course, Roe was
(05:59):
still very much the law of theland, and Texas was trying to
figure out how through targetedregulations, they could close
as many abortion health centersas possible. And indeed, if
they'd been successful inpassing all of the tenants of
that bill, we probably would'vegone from 42 health centers
(06:25):
performing abortion care inTexas to five. And we were on
the last day of a specialsession when the bill came back
to the Senate, and we knew thatif we could talk the bill to
death past midnight, then wecould keep it from passing. And
in Texas, a a filibuster is a ,a true act of physical
(06:47):
endurance because you have totalk the whole time. You can't
take turns with your fellowsenators like they do in the US
Senate. You can't sit, youcan't lean on your desk, you
can't leave the floor to go tothe bathroom. You can't have a
drink of water.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Oh, I don't think I knew about the water or didn't
remember the water.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, my God . So we had 13 hours ahead of us to try
to defeat that bill. And when Isay it was a group effort, I
mean that very sincerelybecause there were so many
thousands of people who came tothe Texas Capitol that day. It
was the first time in historyof the Texas Capitol that it
had to be closed because itfilled to capacity. And it was
(07:33):
just such a beautiful reminderfor me, a beautiful lesson for
me of what can happen when weall decide to show up. And
indeed, it was the voices ofthe thousands of people who
gathered there that day. Thatliterally lifted us over the
midnight deadline because about15 minutes before midnight, my
(07:55):
filibuster was called to an endthrough some inappropriate
procedural rulings. And thefolks who were gathered were
just so upset about what theysaw as a grave injustice, and
it was truly their voices , um,and their upset that kept the
(08:16):
vote from being taken beforemidnight. And it, it was just
a, a beautiful moment in Texashistory. I think,
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I think back to like the trap laws, and, and they
make me think of something, Ithink about a lot with abortion
laws and some of the likeanti-trans legislation we're
seeing where they soundinnocuous on their surface,
right? And, but they have likedeep, deep harm embedded in
them, right? Like yeah . Sayinga , a clinic should be an
(08:48):
ambulatory surgical center, orthat doctors should have
admitting privilege privileges.
It's never that simple, right?
And, but if people just hearthose things, they sound like
things to protect safety orlike common sense things, but
the implications are so muchbigger than that.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yes, they definitely are. Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So that brings us to this moment. So what I , I
think people are probablyfairly familiar with what the ,
uh, landscape for abortionaccess in Texas is right now.
But maybe we should just likebe clear just in case there are
some in the audience who aren'tas familiar. What does it look
like right now? So
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Right now we have a full abortion ban in place.
Prior to the Dobbs decision,which overturned Roe, we had a
six week ban in place, whichwas essentially a ban. It was
an unconstitutional ban becauseRoe was still the law of the
land, but it was creatively ina maniacal way written so that
(09:55):
the state actually couldn't besued for instituting the six
week ban because privatecitizens were given the power
of enforcement essentially. Andit's a, you know, long,
complicated explanation. ButTexas was really the first
state in the country, evenbefore Roe fell to experience
(10:18):
what it looked like to have anabortion ban. And then of
course, when Dobbs was decided,we had a trigger law in Texas,
and the trigger law basicallysaid that if Roe is ever
overturned, then immediatelyabortion will be illegal in our
state. And so it is now fullyagainst the law. There are
(10:42):
criminal and civil penaltiesassociated with violating the
ban. And there is no exceptionfor rape and incest. There's no
exception for fatal fetalanomaly. There is purportedly
an exception for life of themother, but what we've learned
(11:04):
is that it's really not worththe paper that it's written on
because it's written vaguelyenough that doctors and
hospitals are so afraid ofviolating it because the
penalties could be up to a lifein prison. And what that means
is that women in Texas who haveneeded crucial emergency
(11:28):
abortion care have been deniedit to the point where we know
that at least three women inour state have died, and many
others have come close to deathbecause their doctors have
allowed them to become septicbefore they finally intervene
and provide that care. Andit's, it's all unfortunately a
(11:50):
consequence of the way theexception is written. And it
demonstrates to me and, and toothers in our state and other
parts of the country wheresimilar bans are in place that
exceptions really don't workbecause they're only as good as
the person who's getting todecide whether the exception
(12:12):
applies. You know, even instates where they have
exceptions for rape and incest,who gets to decide whether you
were really raped or you werereally , uh, the victim of
incest. And it's just apowerful testament to the fact
that abortion bans aretremendously violative of human
(12:36):
rights, women's autonomy overtheir own bodies. And even with
exceptions in place, it, itreally is always in the hands
of a lawmaker who's getting todecide whether you should be
able to make this most personalhealthcare decision for
yourself.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, there is . The stories coming out of Texas, I
mean, there's stories frommultiple states, but I feel
like there have been more outof Texas probably. 'cause you
have that extra nine months orso with the, with the ban in
advance
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yes .
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Have just been heartbreaking. And I think one
of the things, if there's anylike good that you can put on
any of this is I think thebroader public is getting a
better understanding of likewhy abortion access is so
important and why theseexceptions aren't working. But
(13:30):
it's just been devastating topregnant people trying to
access care people who are inemergency situations and need
access to care. It's not easyto get it. Texas is a huge
state. You can't easily leaveto get care. Lots of states
around it have bans. So I , youknow, you started to talk about
(13:51):
some of the health things , um,that you've been seeing. There
was a big ProPublica piece thatcame out last week. Kind of
what are the like big picturethings we're seeing in Texas ,
uh, for health implications?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So the first thing I wanna say is the reporting that
ProPublica has done on theimpacts of the abortion ban in
Texas have been incrediblyimportant. We really didn't
have any data, for example,about deaths that were
associated with our abortionban until ProPublica did the
(14:27):
deep hard work of requestingthrough public information,
requests data from hospitalsall over the state to discover
that women had actually diedbecause they'd been denied
miscarriage care in all threeinstances. These were people
whose fetus was not going tosurvive, and who unfortunately
(14:54):
were denied the care that theyneed to manage that and lost
their lives. And in more thanone situation, left behind
families, left behind children.
You know, most recentlyProPublica did a story that
revealed, again, by scrapingdata from hospitals around the
(15:17):
state, revealed that our sepsisrates, the incidents of sepsis
in Texas had more than doubledsince our abortion ban went in
place. Interestingly, this datahas actually been denied review
by the maternal mor morbidityand mortality task force in
(15:40):
Texas, which is supposed to bethe task force that studies
maternal mortality , um,determines what the causes of
that maternal mortality are andmakes recommendations about how
we can do a better job ofpreventing maternal death. They
(16:02):
actually, the task force wasdenied the ability to review
data that would have implicatedTexas abortion ban in the
incidents of maternal mortalityand morbidity. And so
ProPublica put out a story thatsaid the Texas legislature
(16:24):
won't let the maternalmortality task force review
this data. So we did itinstead. And I'm so grateful
that they did, because how canwe possibly say that we are
taking a holistic andmeaningful look at what's
happening in terms of the riskof being pregnant in Texas if
we're not looking at the risksthat the abortion ban has added
(16:50):
to what was already a reallyconcerning set of data in terms
of what was happening topregnant women in Texas,
particularly black women whoare dying at three times the
rate as Latino and white womenin our state.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, I mean that's definitely something I've been
thinking about is the maternalmortality crisis. We already
are in across the country,particularly for black women.
And Texas isn't the only statewho's like, actually we're not
gonna look at those. That data,like I think it was Idaho had
also really disbanded theirmaternal mortality review
(17:26):
board. It is just, I mean, Iwanna say like mystifying, but
like it don't wanna look at theharm they're doing, I guess. So
it's not like super surprising,but it , it is horrifying that
they are not even getting thatdata and that, you know, I'm
(17:46):
sure ProPublica is doing somuch, but I'm sure there are
things we're not seeing that wewould be seeing if these boards
were doing their jobs.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That's exactly right. And you know, it's
alarming that the legislatureis working so hard not just to
deny the reality of what'shappening on the ground as a
consequence of this cruelabortion ban. Not only that
they're denying their own kindof review and coming to terms
(18:21):
with what they've wrought.
They're also denying publicunderstanding of it because
they know that the generalpublic in Texas is actually no
different than other states.
The vast majority of people inour state support access to
safe legal abortion, at leastto some degree, a huge swath.
(18:44):
More than two thirds of ourstate support abortion in
instances of rape and incestlife of the mother and fatal
fetal anomaly. And so thelegislature is trying to hide
from the public the reality ofthe consequences of a ban that
(19:04):
ignores public opinion on thoseissues.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Okay. So now that we have an idea of just truly how
bad it is, what, what can bedone at this moment to make
sure that we are doing what wecan to protect pregnant people?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So part of it really is making sure that we
understand what theconsequences look like, and
that requires data and thatrequires all of us to be
vigilant in doing everything wecan to understand the reality
on the ground. In places likeTexas, we can't really shape
(19:45):
public opinion and move votersunless they really understand
what's happening.
Interestingly, there was astory, it's probably been, I
don't know, seven or eight ornine months now that came out
about the fact that a majorityof Texans didn't even
understand that our banddoesn't have exceptions for
(20:09):
rape and incest or fatal fetalanomaly. If they don't even
understand the fact that wedon't have those exceptions,
they certainly don't understandwhat the consequences to
maternal health have been as aconsequence of, of this very
draconian ban and informationis power, you know, as the
(20:32):
saying goes. And I consider ita really important part of our
work at Planned ParenthoodTexas votes to ferret out that
data, to share that data toinform voters and help make
sure that they know that theyactually have the power to do
(20:55):
something about this with theirvote.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, I , um, the , the information gap is really
big. Um, and I think a lot ofthe miss and disinformation is
definitely a tactic to makesure that people aren't aware
of their, their power and theirability to access care. But
it's one of those things whereas people find out more and
(21:19):
more about the harms that arebeing done, you see the public
opinion moving. So it is soimportant to get that
information out there.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yes. And you know, one lesson I I think we've all
learned in that regard in thislast legislative, or excuse me,
this last electoral cycle,there was a lot of money spent
to uplift understanding inTexas and elsewhere about the
(21:49):
abortion ban, the lack ofexceptions, and what the
consequences had been in thelives of women who'd confronted
this reality, women who verymuch wanted their pregnancies
and who almost died as aconsequence of not being able
to get that care that reallyhelped shape public opinion in
(22:15):
a way that actually did impactlawmakers feeling of
responsibility to do somethingabout it. So as we came into
this legislative session inJanuary, we immediately started
hearing from state leaders likeour lieutenant governor, our
(22:38):
governor, and others, that atthe very least the exception
language needed to beclarified, that doctors needed
to be given a more cleardirection about when they can
intervene without being at riskof violating civil and criminal
(23:00):
law. And that thisclarification was necessary to
prevent more fatalities and toprevent more women from near
fatalities as a consequence ofnot being able to get the care
that they need. So I'mencouraged that public opinion
(23:21):
actually has helped sway , uh,republican lawmakers. And I
expect, I fully expect that inthis legislative session we
will see an improvement in thatexception language. I don't
know exactly how improved itwill be, but it's another
(23:42):
lesson in how data andunderstanding shape public
policy and, and that we allactually do have a powerful
role to play in making surethat that happens.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yeah. As much as I would love to see all the
abortion bans go away, if wecould pass things that are
making meaningful differencesto people who need that
emergency care and saving livesand health, right? Like, yes ,
we focused mostly on , um,lives and lives at risk, but
there are severe healthcomplications that people are
suffering long term from notbeing able to access that care
(24:18):
or loss of fertility. So if wecan make a difference in that,
like that is huge. Yes. Um,it's not all the things we want
and need and, and have a rightto, but like making that
difference really will bemeaningful for the people who
are able to exercise theirrights.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
No question. It, it will save lives. There's no
question about it.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
So there was also another stat about underage
people having to leave thestate. Can you tell us a little
bit about what that , uh, datawas showing?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Sure. Well, first I wanna back up a little bit and,
and just point out that thereare a lot of great
organizations on the ground in, in Texas and elsewhere who
are doing everything they canto make sure that people who
need to leave the state to getabortion care can do. So in
spite of that though, there aresimply some people who will
(25:13):
never be able to availthemselves of that care. They
have kids at home that theycan't leave, they have jobs
that they have to show up toand that they'll get fired if
they take a couple of days offof work to go get care. And as
we expected would be the case,the burden of this abortion ban
in Texas has fallen mostheavily on women of color and
(25:36):
particularly low income womenin our state. And, and what
that means over time, andcertainly the data has proven
this out, when people aredenied access to abortion care,
they tend to live in continuedpoverty and that poverty tends
(25:57):
to be generational in itsimpact. So it's just, it's not
only cruel to the people whoaren't able to access the care,
it's, it's so shortsighted ,uh, from the economic wellbeing
of your state and your countrywhen you're denying people the
ability to realize a brighterfuture for themselves and to be
(26:21):
a stronger contributing memberto the bottom line economy of
your state. And we're gonna seethat play out over time in
Texas and elsewhere. We'regoing to see the data that
proves that point that itactually hurts all of us. The
other thing I think isimportant to point out as part
of this conversation is thateven people who think they
(26:46):
support abortion bans areactually going to ultimately be
at the receiving end of theconsequence of these bans.
Because in Texas we are losingOBGYNs left and right who no
longer wanna practice medicinein our state who are
(27:07):
justifiably fearful of whatmight happen if they provide
needed care to someone whoselife is threatened by lack of
access to abortion. And we'realso losing medical students
wanting to do their OBGYNresidencies in Texas because of
(27:29):
the climate of fear that's beencreated in that practice of
medicine here. And so overtime, and it's already starting
to happen, we already had ahuge shortage of ob gyn care
deserts in more than half thecounties of our state of 30
(27:49):
million people. Now thatproblem is only going to get
worse and worse and worse. Andso the impact is going to be
felt by everyone. Even peoplewho very much desire their
pregnancies and who supportabortion bans, they're going to
start feeling the consequencetoo . And then finally , uh, to
(28:10):
get back to the question thatyou were asking about, we also
are seeing that the number ofunderage people who have had to
leave our state to get abortioncare has been alarming and even
more alarming and and trulysickening are the number of
(28:32):
under the age of 12 girls whohave had to leave our state to
get abortion care. I can't evenimagine the trauma that is , is
visited upon a girl whoobviously has been the victim
of rape and who now has to goto another state to get the
(28:54):
care that she needs. And itjust highlights the cruelty of
these laws and certainly thecruelty of not having
exceptions that could apply toinstances like that. And I hope
it's a , a clarion call forpeople who think these bands
(29:14):
are a good idea to understandwhat the human consequences of
them are.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Oh , this has made me think about like the one
thing like tying kind of all ofthis together, a little bit of
what you just said of , uh, howblack and brown people are
being the most impacted lowincome people talking about
those , um, rural OB GYNdeserts and now we hear
Congress talking about guttingMedicaid, right? And like all
(29:41):
of that is gonna play into thisand make everything so much
worse.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
That's right.
Because when you, when you takehealthcare away from people
without means you necessarilytake away from them the ability
to get contraceptive and familyplanning care, you take away
from them the ability to plantheir lives and futures you
(30:06):
take away from them the abilityto provide for their families
to go to school to get betterjobs. And again, the long-term
ripple impact of that is thatyou take away the vibrancy of
your economic wellbeing in thestate. And that hurts
(30:29):
everybody. There's a, you know,a saying that Hillary Clinton
was fond of, of saying, whenwomen do better, we all do
better. And it is true thatwhen we give people the
opportunity individually to dobetter, their families do
better. Um, our communities dobetter, our employers do
(30:51):
better, our economy doesbetter, we all do better. And
when we're at the whim oflawmakers who are attacking
women's ability to thrive andsucceed, which is very much
what these abortion bans areabout, at the end of the day,
everybody suffers from that.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Okay. So I always love to end the episode not
just with what are all theproblems, but ways to get the
audience involved and how canthe audience fight back. So
what actions can people who arelistening to this podcast or
reading the transcript, how,how can they get involved?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So a few, a few things I would suggest in that
regard. Number one, you know,do some research. Use your chat
GBT and ask it to show you someinformation on what the
consequences of these abortionbans have been. And then share
it. Don't take for granted thatpeople know how bad things
(31:53):
really are. As I said, and aswe've been talking about
through this episode,information is power. And when
we can inform people, we movepeople and we activate people
to help drive the change that,that we need to see . So
something as simple as justdoing a little bit of research,
(32:13):
sharing it on your social mediachannels, sharing it with your
friends and family and othersin your community, it's really
important. Secondly, especiallyif you , uh, live in a place
like Texas, make sure thatyou're reaching out to the
people who represent you,whether they're Democrat or
(32:33):
Republican, and let them knowhow you feel about what's
happening. You know, I, I was astate senator for six years and
I can tell you that it matterswhen people call your office
and tell you that they're upsetabout something, it matters
when they're writing you emailsand letters and postcards. It
(32:55):
matters when they show up inyour district office and demand
that you meet with them , um,and listen to their concerns.
Those can be, I think, a littleless comfortable for some
people than others. Do whatwhatever you feel is right for
you in that regard. And thenfinally, I would say get
(33:18):
involved in lobbying. So forexample, in Texas, we, every
other year when the Texaslegislature is in session,
planned Parenthood, Texas votesand our healthcare affiliates
throughout the state worktogether to quote unquote pink
out the capitol . Uh, we allshow up and we wear our pink
(33:41):
and we go to every office inthat capitol and we talk to our
legislators, whether they'repro or con, where we are on
this issue. We wanna make surethat our voices are heard. This
year, that lobby day in Texaswill be happening on March the
20th. You can sign up toparticipate in the lobby day by
(34:04):
going to planned parenthoodTexas votes.org. And there's a
place there on our websitewhere you can sign up to
participate. You'll getinformation about, you know,
where to be, when to be, you'llget information about who to
meet with, what to say, and youwon't be alone. That's the
(34:26):
great thing. And I, I think alot of times people might feel
uncomfortable walking into alegislator's office by themself
, but if they've got, you know,a dozen people alongside them
who are also being representedby that house member or that
state senator going into theoffice and they've got talking
points , uh, with them, whichof course we provide, it can
(34:50):
feel actually quite empoweringto do that. So I would
encourage people, pleaseparticipate March 20th in the
Texas Capitol . If you live inTexas and if you don't live in
Texas, you know, get onlineand, and find out where lobby
days might be happening in thestate where you live and how
you can sign up to be a part ofit. It really does make a
(35:13):
difference. But not only that,it just makes you feel good to
know that you're doing what youcan. You know, and then don't
let that be your onlyengagement. When it's time to
vote, do what you can to helpturn out other pro reproductive
rights voters. Sign up to dosome block walking or phone
calling or postcard writing.
(35:34):
Make sure you own your ownresponsibility to vote. Make
sure you encourage everyone inyour family and friendship
circles to vote and, and tellthem why. Tell them why it
matters and help them see thatit really does make a
difference, because it does.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
I would just add one thing to your, call your
representatives andcongresspeople when you're mad
if they take a good vote. Alsothank them for their support
and show them that, that yousupport their actions,
especially if it's a hard vote.
Yes . Like , it just, it reallydoes make a difference.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
It truly does. And, and again, speaking from my own
experience, a lot of times youhear about the people who are
upset with you. You don't oftenhear the people who think
you're doing a good job. And itmeans a lot when people reach
out and pat you on the back,write you a little note, you
know, stop by the office andsay thank you. It means a lot.
(36:30):
And it means a lot to thepeople that work with you in
your office too. You know,whether you're in the district
office or the capital office,those folks work really hard
every single day. They do allthe research, they prepare
their members to make surethey're doing a good job and
giving them some kudos reallyhelps.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Well, Wendy, thank you so much for being here
today. I had a wonderful timetalking to you.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Thank you. I did with you as well. Thanks for
all you do.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Okay, y'all, I hope you enjoyed my conversation
with Wendy. It was great one tohear her talking a little bit
about the Texas filibuster shedid, but also just to hear
about what is happening inTexas right now. There is it ,
it's a really terrible healthcrisis and we're slowly getting
data because groups likeProPublica are doing important,
(37:20):
digging into the numbers work.
Um , and I'm sure we willcontinue to find out more and
more horrible stories asProPublica and others continue
to do, dig in and do reporting.
Okay, y'all, with that, I willsee everybody next week. If you
have any questions, comments,or topics you would like us to
cover, always feel free toshoot me an email. You can
(37:41):
reach me at Jenny jn , Ie@reprofightact.com . Or you
can find us on social media.
We're at re pros. Fight back onFacebook and Twitter or re Pros
FB on Instagram. If you loveour podcast and wanna make sure
more people find it, take thetime to rate and review us on
your favorite podcast platform.
(38:02):
Or if you wanna make sure tosupport the podcast, you can
also donate on ourwebsite@reprofightback.com.
Thanks all .
Welcome to Repro Fight Back a podcast on all
things related to sexual andreproductive health rights and
justice. Hi. Re pros. How'severybody doing? I'm your host
Jenny Wetter , and my pronounsare she her. So y'all, it has
been another chaotic week andthere are so many things
happening, but I am going tofocus on, last weekend was my
(00:28):
birthday, so I'm actuallyrecording this before my
birthday, so I don't knoweverything that happened, but I
am looking forward to a funweekend, got lunch with some
friends and having a reallychill weekend before getting
back into, like I said, I havea ton of things happening at
work right now that are allhappening all at once. And it
(00:50):
is, I feel, I just feel chaoticand like my inbox is a
disaster. Like I , I thinkDumpster fire does not do it
justice. It is just what is onestage above dumpster fire
because it's bad right now. Um,I'm trying to stay on top of
it, but there are so manythings competing for priorities
at the moment that it just, Ifeel, I feel the chaos
(01:13):
everywhere, but I'm lookingforward to a fun birthday
weekend, and I have some treatsthat have already arrived that
I'm very excited to dig intoand just have a nice birthday
celebration. I have a bigbirthday trip planned later
this year. I'll tell you aboutit after it happens. Um, but
(01:36):
I'm very excited that my momand I are gonna go somewhere.
So I'm very much lookingforward to it. And then, yeah,
I'm trying to think if there'sanything else really big I
wanna talk about. I don'treally wanna talk about all the
things that are happening inthe world right now because
there is so much, and it, likeI said, feels chaotic, but I ,
I wanna keep this intro kind of, uh, light and fun and , um,
(02:01):
I'm very, very excited for thisweek's interview. So maybe
we'll just like go right intothat. We have Wendy Davis with
Planned Parenthood, Texas Boatson , um, to talk about what is
happening in Texas right now.
There was some reporting thatcame out recently talking about
a huge increase in sepsis ratesin Texas. So I wanted to touch
base with someone in Texas totalk about what is happening on
(02:23):
the ground. But I, I justwanted to maybe do a little
fangirling before I had get getto Wendy. I did a little bit
with her, but if you areunfamiliar, Wendy Davis was a
Texas State senator, and in2013, I think she had this
really famous filibuster whereshe stood up for 13 hours to
(02:45):
try and defeat a big abortionbill that was moving through
the Texas legislature. It wasso inspiring. There were so
many people that turned out inTexas to support her. So many
people were following it onTwitter back when it was a
better place.
community and this inspirationyou could just feel in the air
(03:08):
for what she was doing. Texashas some really strict, I mean,
really strict , uh, rules forhow filibusters need to be
done. Wendy talks about some ofthem, but one of the ones she
didn't mention is the personwho is filibustering has to
speak on topic. So she couldn'tjust go up and talk about
(03:29):
whatever for 13 hours that sheneeded to talk. She had to be
specific on things related tothe bill. I cannot imagine
having to talk nonstop 13 hourson something specific to a
particular bill. So it was just, uh, so inspiring. I I do, I
just remember checking in on itthroughout the day, sitting in
(03:52):
bed at night , uh, listening into the filibuster and watching
and, and spending time on incommunity on Twitter as it was
happening. And you could justfeel the energy and the hope
that they were gonna stop thisbill. And , and they did,
right? Like they , they stoppedit. Um, at, for that time. It
was later reintroduced andpassed. But, but what Wendy did
(04:16):
was amazing, and it was amazingto see it happen and watch it
unfold in person. And y'all, Iwas so excited to talk to her.
So I tried to keep myfangirling to , to a minimum ,
um, as I try to do on thepodcast what I speak to people
that I am just in awe ofbecause I've had some guests
that I am very inspired by andI , I try not to be too
(04:39):
overwhelmingly nerdy andexcited when I talk to them.
But I did do a little bit withWendy. Uh, so with that, let's
go to my interview with WendyDavis. Hi, Wendy. Thank you so
much for being here today.
Well,
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Hello, I'm happy to be with you.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Before we get started, would you like to take
a quick second and introduceyourself and include your
pronouns?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Sure. My name is Wendy Davis. My pronouns are
she her. I am a former TexasState senator, and I am
currently senior advisor withPlanned Parenthood Texas Votes.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Y'all, I, for any of you who are not familiar with
Wendy, you should definitelylook back and see what she did
during her career. I havevivid, vivid memories of
sitting in bed late at nightwatching your infamous
filibuster and just, it was soamazing and so inspiring to see
you stand up for, what was it,13 hours? Uh, just absolutely
(05:36):
amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Thank you. It was a , it was a group effort, you
know, that was back in 2013,who knew that that would be the
glory day of abortion rights inTexas, right . But we were
fighting what was known as ,uh, trap law, which was a
targeted regulation of abortionprovider. Of course, Roe was
(05:59):
still very much the law of theland, and Texas was trying to
figure out how through targetedregulations, they could close
as many abortion health centersas possible. And indeed, if
they'd been successful inpassing all of the tenants of
that bill, we probably would'vegone from 42 health centers
(06:25):
performing abortion care inTexas to five. And we were on
the last day of a specialsession when the bill came back
to the Senate, and we knew thatif we could talk the bill to
death past midnight, then wecould keep it from passing. And
in Texas, a a filibuster is a ,a true act of physical
(06:47):
endurance because you have totalk the whole time. You can't
take turns with your fellowsenators like they do in the US
Senate. You can't sit, youcan't lean on your desk, you
can't leave the floor to go tothe bathroom. You can't have a
drink of water.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Oh, I don't think I knew about the water or didn't
remember the water.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, my God . So we had 13 hours ahead of us to try
to defeat that bill. And when Isay it was a group effort, I
mean that very sincerelybecause there were so many
thousands of people who came tothe Texas Capitol that day. It
was the first time in historyof the Texas Capitol that it
had to be closed because itfilled to capacity. And it was
(07:33):
just such a beautiful reminderfor me, a beautiful lesson for
me of what can happen when weall decide to show up. And
indeed, it was the voices ofthe thousands of people who
gathered there that day. Thatliterally lifted us over the
midnight deadline because about15 minutes before midnight, my
(07:55):
filibuster was called to an endthrough some inappropriate
procedural rulings. And thefolks who were gathered were
just so upset about what theysaw as a grave injustice, and
it was truly their voices , um,and their upset that kept the
(08:16):
vote from being taken beforemidnight. And it, it was just
a, a beautiful moment in Texashistory. I think,
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I think back to like the trap laws, and, and they
make me think of something, Ithink about a lot with abortion
laws and some of the likeanti-trans legislation we're
seeing where they soundinnocuous on their surface,
right? And, but they have likedeep, deep harm embedded in
them, right? Like yeah . Sayinga , a clinic should be an
(08:48):
ambulatory surgical center, orthat doctors should have
admitting privilege privileges.
It's never that simple, right?
And, but if people just hearthose things, they sound like
things to protect safety orlike common sense things, but
the implications are so muchbigger than that.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yes, they definitely are. Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So that brings us to this moment. So what I , I
think people are probablyfairly familiar with what the ,
uh, landscape for abortionaccess in Texas is right now.
But maybe we should just likebe clear just in case there are
some in the audience who aren'tas familiar. What does it look
like right now? So
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Right now we have a full abortion ban in place.
Prior to the Dobbs decision,which overturned Roe, we had a
six week ban in place, whichwas essentially a ban. It was
an unconstitutional ban becauseRoe was still the law of the
land, but it was creatively ina maniacal way written so that
(09:55):
the state actually couldn't besued for instituting the six
week ban because privatecitizens were given the power
of enforcement essentially. Andit's a, you know, long,
complicated explanation. ButTexas was really the first
state in the country, evenbefore Roe fell to experience
(10:18):
what it looked like to have anabortion ban. And then of
course, when Dobbs was decided,we had a trigger law in Texas,
and the trigger law basicallysaid that if Roe is ever
overturned, then immediatelyabortion will be illegal in our
state. And so it is now fullyagainst the law. There are
(10:42):
criminal and civil penaltiesassociated with violating the
ban. And there is no exceptionfor rape and incest. There's no
exception for fatal fetalanomaly. There is purportedly
an exception for life of themother, but what we've learned
(11:04):
is that it's really not worththe paper that it's written on
because it's written vaguelyenough that doctors and
hospitals are so afraid ofviolating it because the
penalties could be up to a lifein prison. And what that means
is that women in Texas who haveneeded crucial emergency
(11:28):
abortion care have been deniedit to the point where we know
that at least three women inour state have died, and many
others have come close to deathbecause their doctors have
allowed them to become septicbefore they finally intervene
and provide that care. Andit's, it's all unfortunately a
(11:50):
consequence of the way theexception is written. And it
demonstrates to me and, and toothers in our state and other
parts of the country wheresimilar bans are in place that
exceptions really don't workbecause they're only as good as
the person who's getting todecide whether the exception
(12:12):
applies. You know, even instates where they have
exceptions for rape and incest,who gets to decide whether you
were really raped or you werereally , uh, the victim of
incest. And it's just apowerful testament to the fact
that abortion bans aretremendously violative of human
(12:36):
rights, women's autonomy overtheir own bodies. And even with
exceptions in place, it, itreally is always in the hands
of a lawmaker who's getting todecide whether you should be
able to make this most personalhealthcare decision for
yourself.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, there is . The stories coming out of Texas, I
mean, there's stories frommultiple states, but I feel
like there have been more outof Texas probably. 'cause you
have that extra nine months orso with the, with the ban in
advance
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yes .
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Have just been heartbreaking. And I think one
of the things, if there's anylike good that you can put on
any of this is I think thebroader public is getting a
better understanding of likewhy abortion access is so
important and why theseexceptions aren't working. But
(13:30):
it's just been devastating topregnant people trying to
access care people who are inemergency situations and need
access to care. It's not easyto get it. Texas is a huge
state. You can't easily leaveto get care. Lots of states
around it have bans. So I , youknow, you started to talk about
(13:51):
some of the health things , um,that you've been seeing. There
was a big ProPublica piece thatcame out last week. Kind of
what are the like big picturethings we're seeing in Texas ,
uh, for health implications?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So the first thing I wanna say is the reporting that
ProPublica has done on theimpacts of the abortion ban in
Texas have been incrediblyimportant. We really didn't
have any data, for example,about deaths that were
associated with our abortionban until ProPublica did the
(14:27):
deep hard work of requestingthrough public information,
requests data from hospitalsall over the state to discover
that women had actually diedbecause they'd been denied
miscarriage care in all threeinstances. These were people
whose fetus was not going tosurvive, and who unfortunately
(14:54):
were denied the care that theyneed to manage that and lost
their lives. And in more thanone situation, left behind
families, left behind children.
You know, most recentlyProPublica did a story that
revealed, again, by scrapingdata from hospitals around the
(15:17):
state, revealed that our sepsisrates, the incidents of sepsis
in Texas had more than doubledsince our abortion ban went in
place. Interestingly, this datahas actually been denied review
by the maternal mor morbidityand mortality task force in
(15:40):
Texas, which is supposed to bethe task force that studies
maternal mortality , um,determines what the causes of
that maternal mortality are andmakes recommendations about how
we can do a better job ofpreventing maternal death. They
(16:02):
actually, the task force wasdenied the ability to review
data that would have implicatedTexas abortion ban in the
incidents of maternal mortalityand morbidity. And so
ProPublica put out a story thatsaid the Texas legislature
(16:24):
won't let the maternalmortality task force review
this data. So we did itinstead. And I'm so grateful
that they did, because how canwe possibly say that we are
taking a holistic andmeaningful look at what's
happening in terms of the riskof being pregnant in Texas if
we're not looking at the risksthat the abortion ban has added
(16:50):
to what was already a reallyconcerning set of data in terms
of what was happening topregnant women in Texas,
particularly black women whoare dying at three times the
rate as Latino and white womenin our state.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, I mean that's definitely something I've been
thinking about is the maternalmortality crisis. We already
are in across the country,particularly for black women.
And Texas isn't the only statewho's like, actually we're not
gonna look at those. That data,like I think it was Idaho had
also really disbanded theirmaternal mortality review
(17:26):
board. It is just, I mean, Iwanna say like mystifying, but
like it don't wanna look at theharm they're doing, I guess. So
it's not like super surprising,but it , it is horrifying that
they are not even getting thatdata and that, you know, I'm
(17:46):
sure ProPublica is doing somuch, but I'm sure there are
things we're not seeing that wewould be seeing if these boards
were doing their jobs.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That's exactly right. And you know, it's
alarming that the legislatureis working so hard not just to
deny the reality of what'shappening on the ground as a
consequence of this cruelabortion ban. Not only that
they're denying their own kindof review and coming to terms
(18:21):
with what they've wrought.
They're also denying publicunderstanding of it because
they know that the generalpublic in Texas is actually no
different than other states.
The vast majority of people inour state support access to
safe legal abortion, at leastto some degree, a huge swath.
(18:44):
More than two thirds of ourstate support abortion in
instances of rape and incestlife of the mother and fatal
fetal anomaly. And so thelegislature is trying to hide
from the public the reality ofthe consequences of a ban that
(19:04):
ignores public opinion on thoseissues.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Okay. So now that we have an idea of just truly how
bad it is, what, what can bedone at this moment to make
sure that we are doing what wecan to protect pregnant people?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So part of it really is making sure that we
understand what theconsequences look like, and
that requires data and thatrequires all of us to be
vigilant in doing everything wecan to understand the reality
on the ground. In places likeTexas, we can't really shape
(19:45):
public opinion and move votersunless they really understand
what's happening.
Interestingly, there was astory, it's probably been, I
don't know, seven or eight ornine months now that came out
about the fact that a majorityof Texans didn't even
understand that our banddoesn't have exceptions for
(20:09):
rape and incest or fatal fetalanomaly. If they don't even
understand the fact that wedon't have those exceptions,
they certainly don't understandwhat the consequences to
maternal health have been as aconsequence of, of this very
draconian ban and informationis power, you know, as the
(20:32):
saying goes. And I consider ita really important part of our
work at Planned ParenthoodTexas votes to ferret out that
data, to share that data toinform voters and help make
sure that they know that theyactually have the power to do
(20:55):
something about this with theirvote.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, I , um, the , the information gap is really
big. Um, and I think a lot ofthe miss and disinformation is
definitely a tactic to makesure that people aren't aware
of their, their power and theirability to access care. But
it's one of those things whereas people find out more and
(21:19):
more about the harms that arebeing done, you see the public
opinion moving. So it is soimportant to get that
information out there.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yes. And you know, one lesson I I think we've all
learned in that regard in thislast legislative, or excuse me,
this last electoral cycle,there was a lot of money spent
to uplift understanding inTexas and elsewhere about the
(21:49):
abortion ban, the lack ofexceptions, and what the
consequences had been in thelives of women who'd confronted
this reality, women who verymuch wanted their pregnancies
and who almost died as aconsequence of not being able
to get that care that reallyhelped shape public opinion in
(22:15):
a way that actually did impactlawmakers feeling of
responsibility to do somethingabout it. So as we came into
this legislative session inJanuary, we immediately started
hearing from state leaders likeour lieutenant governor, our
(22:38):
governor, and others, that atthe very least the exception
language needed to beclarified, that doctors needed
to be given a more cleardirection about when they can
intervene without being at riskof violating civil and criminal
(23:00):
law. And that thisclarification was necessary to
prevent more fatalities and toprevent more women from near
fatalities as a consequence ofnot being able to get the care
that they need. So I'mencouraged that public opinion
(23:21):
actually has helped sway , uh,republican lawmakers. And I
expect, I fully expect that inthis legislative session we
will see an improvement in thatexception language. I don't
know exactly how improved itwill be, but it's another
(23:42):
lesson in how data andunderstanding shape public
policy and, and that we allactually do have a powerful
role to play in making surethat that happens.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yeah. As much as I would love to see all the
abortion bans go away, if wecould pass things that are
making meaningful differencesto people who need that
emergency care and saving livesand health, right? Like, yes ,
we focused mostly on , um,lives and lives at risk, but
there are severe healthcomplications that people are
suffering long term from notbeing able to access that care
(24:18):
or loss of fertility. So if wecan make a difference in that,
like that is huge. Yes. Um,it's not all the things we want
and need and, and have a rightto, but like making that
difference really will bemeaningful for the people who
are able to exercise theirrights.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
No question. It, it will save lives. There's no
question about it.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
So there was also another stat about underage
people having to leave thestate. Can you tell us a little
bit about what that , uh, datawas showing?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Sure. Well, first I wanna back up a little bit and,
and just point out that thereare a lot of great
organizations on the ground in, in Texas and elsewhere who
are doing everything they canto make sure that people who
need to leave the state to getabortion care can do. So in
spite of that though, there aresimply some people who will
(25:13):
never be able to availthemselves of that care. They
have kids at home that theycan't leave, they have jobs
that they have to show up toand that they'll get fired if
they take a couple of days offof work to go get care. And as
we expected would be the case,the burden of this abortion ban
in Texas has fallen mostheavily on women of color and
(25:36):
particularly low income womenin our state. And, and what
that means over time, andcertainly the data has proven
this out, when people aredenied access to abortion care,
they tend to live in continuedpoverty and that poverty tends
(25:57):
to be generational in itsimpact. So it's just, it's not
only cruel to the people whoaren't able to access the care,
it's, it's so shortsighted ,uh, from the economic wellbeing
of your state and your countrywhen you're denying people the
ability to realize a brighterfuture for themselves and to be
(26:21):
a stronger contributing memberto the bottom line economy of
your state. And we're gonna seethat play out over time in
Texas and elsewhere. We'regoing to see the data that
proves that point that itactually hurts all of us. The
other thing I think isimportant to point out as part
of this conversation is thateven people who think they
(26:46):
support abortion bans areactually going to ultimately be
at the receiving end of theconsequence of these bans.
Because in Texas we are losingOBGYNs left and right who no
longer wanna practice medicinein our state who are
(27:07):
justifiably fearful of whatmight happen if they provide
needed care to someone whoselife is threatened by lack of
access to abortion. And we'realso losing medical students
wanting to do their OBGYNresidencies in Texas because of
(27:29):
the climate of fear that's beencreated in that practice of
medicine here. And so overtime, and it's already starting
to happen, we already had ahuge shortage of ob gyn care
deserts in more than half thecounties of our state of 30
(27:49):
million people. Now thatproblem is only going to get
worse and worse and worse. Andso the impact is going to be
felt by everyone. Even peoplewho very much desire their
pregnancies and who supportabortion bans, they're going to
start feeling the consequencetoo . And then finally , uh, to
(28:10):
get back to the question thatyou were asking about, we also
are seeing that the number ofunderage people who have had to
leave our state to get abortioncare has been alarming and even
more alarming and and trulysickening are the number of
(28:32):
under the age of 12 girls whohave had to leave our state to
get abortion care. I can't evenimagine the trauma that is , is
visited upon a girl whoobviously has been the victim
of rape and who now has to goto another state to get the
(28:54):
care that she needs. And itjust highlights the cruelty of
these laws and certainly thecruelty of not having
exceptions that could apply toinstances like that. And I hope
it's a , a clarion call forpeople who think these bands
(29:14):
are a good idea to understandwhat the human consequences of
them are.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Oh , this has made me think about like the one
thing like tying kind of all ofthis together, a little bit of
what you just said of , uh, howblack and brown people are
being the most impacted lowincome people talking about
those , um, rural OB GYNdeserts and now we hear
Congress talking about guttingMedicaid, right? And like all
(29:41):
of that is gonna play into thisand make everything so much
worse.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
That's right.
Because when you, when you takehealthcare away from people
without means you necessarilytake away from them the ability
to get contraceptive and familyplanning care, you take away
from them the ability to plantheir lives and futures you
(30:06):
take away from them the abilityto provide for their families
to go to school to get betterjobs. And again, the long-term
ripple impact of that is thatyou take away the vibrancy of
your economic wellbeing in thestate. And that hurts
(30:29):
everybody. There's a, you know,a saying that Hillary Clinton
was fond of, of saying, whenwomen do better, we all do
better. And it is true thatwhen we give people the
opportunity individually to dobetter, their families do
better. Um, our communities dobetter, our employers do
(30:51):
better, our economy doesbetter, we all do better. And
when we're at the whim oflawmakers who are attacking
women's ability to thrive andsucceed, which is very much
what these abortion bans areabout, at the end of the day,
everybody suffers from that.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Okay. So I always love to end the episode not
just with what are all theproblems, but ways to get the
audience involved and how canthe audience fight back. So
what actions can people who arelistening to this podcast or
reading the transcript, how,how can they get involved?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So a few, a few things I would suggest in that
regard. Number one, you know,do some research. Use your chat
GBT and ask it to show you someinformation on what the
consequences of these abortionbans have been. And then share
it. Don't take for granted thatpeople know how bad things
(31:53):
really are. As I said, and aswe've been talking about
through this episode,information is power. And when
we can inform people, we movepeople and we activate people
to help drive the change that,that we need to see . So
something as simple as justdoing a little bit of research,
(32:13):
sharing it on your social mediachannels, sharing it with your
friends and family and othersin your community, it's really
important. Secondly, especiallyif you , uh, live in a place
like Texas, make sure thatyou're reaching out to the
people who represent you,whether they're Democrat or
(32:33):
Republican, and let them knowhow you feel about what's
happening. You know, I, I was astate senator for six years and
I can tell you that it matterswhen people call your office
and tell you that they're upsetabout something, it matters
when they're writing you emailsand letters and postcards. It
(32:55):
matters when they show up inyour district office and demand
that you meet with them , um,and listen to their concerns.
Those can be, I think, a littleless comfortable for some
people than others. Do whatwhatever you feel is right for
you in that regard. And thenfinally, I would say get
(33:18):
involved in lobbying. So forexample, in Texas, we, every
other year when the Texaslegislature is in session,
planned Parenthood, Texas votesand our healthcare affiliates
throughout the state worktogether to quote unquote pink
out the capitol . Uh, we allshow up and we wear our pink
(33:41):
and we go to every office inthat capitol and we talk to our
legislators, whether they'repro or con, where we are on
this issue. We wanna make surethat our voices are heard. This
year, that lobby day in Texaswill be happening on March the
20th. You can sign up toparticipate in the lobby day by
(34:04):
going to planned parenthoodTexas votes.org. And there's a
place there on our websitewhere you can sign up to
participate. You'll getinformation about, you know,
where to be, when to be, you'llget information about who to
meet with, what to say, and youwon't be alone. That's the
(34:26):
great thing. And I, I think alot of times people might feel
uncomfortable walking into alegislator's office by themself
, but if they've got, you know,a dozen people alongside them
who are also being representedby that house member or that
state senator going into theoffice and they've got talking
points , uh, with them, whichof course we provide, it can
(34:50):
feel actually quite empoweringto do that. So I would
encourage people, pleaseparticipate March 20th in the
Texas Capitol . If you live inTexas and if you don't live in
Texas, you know, get onlineand, and find out where lobby
days might be happening in thestate where you live and how
you can sign up to be a part ofit. It really does make a
(35:13):
difference. But not only that,it just makes you feel good to
know that you're doing what youcan. You know, and then don't
let that be your onlyengagement. When it's time to
vote, do what you can to helpturn out other pro reproductive
rights voters. Sign up to dosome block walking or phone
calling or postcard writing.
(35:34):
Make sure you own your ownresponsibility to vote. Make
sure you encourage everyone inyour family and friendship
circles to vote and, and tellthem why. Tell them why it
matters and help them see thatit really does make a
difference, because it does.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
I would just add one thing to your, call your
representatives andcongresspeople when you're mad
if they take a good vote. Alsothank them for their support
and show them that, that yousupport their actions,
especially if it's a hard vote.
Yes . Like , it just, it reallydoes make a difference.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
It truly does. And, and again, speaking from my own
experience, a lot of times youhear about the people who are
upset with you. You don't oftenhear the people who think
you're doing a good job. And itmeans a lot when people reach
out and pat you on the back,write you a little note, you
know, stop by the office andsay thank you. It means a lot.
(36:30):
And it means a lot to thepeople that work with you in
your office too. You know,whether you're in the district
office or the capital office,those folks work really hard
every single day. They do allthe research, they prepare
their members to make surethey're doing a good job and
giving them some kudos reallyhelps.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Well, Wendy, thank you so much for being here
today. I had a wonderful timetalking to you.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Thank you. I did with you as well. Thanks for
all you do.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Okay, y'all, I hope you enjoyed my conversation
with Wendy. It was great one tohear her talking a little bit
about the Texas filibuster shedid, but also just to hear
about what is happening inTexas right now. There is it ,
it's a really terrible healthcrisis and we're slowly getting
data because groups likeProPublica are doing important,
(37:20):
digging into the numbers work.
Um , and I'm sure we willcontinue to find out more and
more horrible stories asProPublica and others continue
to do, dig in and do reporting.
Okay, y'all, with that, I willsee everybody next week. If you
have any questions, comments,or topics you would like us to
cover, always feel free toshoot me an email. You can
(37:41):
reach me at Jenny jn , Ie@reprofightact.com . Or you
can find us on social media.
We're at re pros. Fight back onFacebook and Twitter or re Pros
FB on Instagram. If you loveour podcast and wanna make sure
more people find it, take thetime to rate and review us on
your favorite podcast platform.
(38:02):
Or if you wanna make sure tosupport the podcast, you can
also donate on ourwebsite@reprofightback.com.
Thanks all .
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