Wendy Davis to head Planned Parenthood political advocacy

Davis, best known for her 13-hour filibuster to block the 2013 abortion bill, is joining the group at the lowest point for reproductive rights in Texas.

Austin, Texas – This article first appeared in the Texas Tribune.

Ten years after his historic filibuster, former state senator Wendy Davis will return to the Texas Capitol in a new role: Senior Family Planning Counsel for Texas.

She joins the political department of a fundraising and advocacy group at the lowest point for reproductive rights in Texas. Access to abortion has been wiped out in Texas and many nearby states. Abortion funds have stopped financially supporting people who travel out of state to undergo the procedure for fear of being sued. With Planned Parenthood removed from Medicaid, Texas is now trying to get the clinics shut down.

And while other states have faced voter backlash against aggressive abortion bans, Republicans in Texas have won an easy victory across the board.

After two high-profile defeats at the polls, Davis herself returns to the reshaped Capitol to take on the same fight.

“I have dedicated most of my life to countering extremist attacks on our most basic rights,” Davis said in a statement. “I couldn’t sit by while the same actors try to destroy the critical healthcare Planned Parenthood provides to patients in this state and country every day.”

Along with Davis, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes promoted Shelley Hayes-McMahon and Drucilla Tigner to co-executive directors. Hayes-McMahon, the first black woman to lead the organization, joined Planned Parenthood Texas Votes in 2021 from Annie’s List, which recruits and trains women to run for office in Texas. Tigner also joined in 2021 after serving as the chief gender equality lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.

The new leadership hopes to capitalize on the increased interest in reproductive rights following the cancellation of Roe v. Wade and build the political infrastructure to block and eventually reverse many of the Republican policies in Texas, Tigner said in an interview. with the Texas Tribune.

“Our organization is nurturing the next generation of movement leaders by investing in youth programs across the state,” she said. “We are also investing in programs for supporters and volunteers who want to devote more of their time and effort to this work, and we are creating a blueprint for future success in Texas.”

In this legislative session, Tigner said, the organization is focused on raising awareness of bills aimed at access to contraceptives and on introducing initiative laws that would restore Planned Parenthood’s access to public funding and lift the abortion bans that went into effect last summer.

“While we know this legislative session is unlikely to be the session where these issues are, we need to start fighting for the world we want right now,” Tigner said.

Davis is perhaps best known for her 13-hour filibuster to block a 2013 abortion bill that required abortion providers to pass regulations so stringent they would close most clinics in the state.

The bill eventually passed; It was later rejected by the US Supreme Court. But this filibuster brought Davis and the fight against abortion laws in Texas into the national spotlight.

“I remember that day so clearly; The Capitol was filled with hundreds of thousands of people who supported her and the importance of access to abortion here in Texas,” Tigner said. “Her historic filibuster inspired a generation of activists in Texas to join the movement.”

Raised by a single mother, Davis grew up in poverty and became a single mother by the age of 19, divorced and living in a trailer. She returned to school, trained as a paralegal, and eventually graduated from Harvard Law School.

In 2008, she won her race for the State Senate, toppling the incumbent Republican president, and launched a successful filibuster fight against a school funding bill two years before her historic abortion filibuster.

She ran for governor in 2014, losing 20 points to Greg Abbott. She then founded Actions Not Words, a non-profit organization whose goal was to mobilize young women. And in 2019, she ran against U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, losing by a narrow margin of seven points.

More recently, Davis filed a lawsuit to challenge Texas’ ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The lawsuit was dismissed earlier this month.

“Wendy is an icon of the reproductive rights movement. She is an icon of the progressive movement in Texas,” Tigner said. “With her, together with Shelley and me, we have the opportunity to really build the movement that we want to see.”

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

Related Articles

Back to top button