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The new abortion restriction bill in Texas -- and the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the law to stand -- is devastating. Millions of people in Texas lost access to a fundamental right. And gerrymandered state legislatures across the country now have a blueprint for doing this in other states.
We’re working hard to help break this cycle of gerrymandering that enables bills like these. But today, I wanted to reach out and share a way you can support organizations that are directly helping people in Texas.
This fundraising drive is collecting donations for ten Texas abortion funds -- please consider chipping in today if you can spare a few dollars.
I hope you’ll join me in making a donation,
-- Mallory
From: Gen Van Cleve
Subject: All eyes on Texas
Date: Thursday, September 2, 2021
There’s a lot of news out of Texas this week -- so I wanted to reach out with a quick primer on what’s happening.
Voting rights:
The gerrymandered Texas State Legislature passed their infamous voter suppression bill this week, and Governor Abbott is expected to sign the bill into law. Under the false pretense of “protecting” elections from “fraud,” Republicans are restricting vote-by-mail, increasing voter intimidation (aka partisan “poll watchers”), and making it a felony for local election officials to proactively distribute mail-in ballot applications.
→ Let’s be clear: these restrictions aren’t combatting “voter fraud” -- they are dismantling initiatives that helped break down barriers for voters of color in places like Harris County. This bill provides a blueprint for other state legislatures to further manipulate local elections through voter discrimination. We have a chance to break this cycle of gerrymandering in states like Texas.
Reproductive rights:
Earlier this year, the gerrymandered legislature passed one of the most restrictive abortion bills introduced in our country since Roe v. Wade. Since the Supreme Court -- stacked with conservative justices nominated by men who didn’t win the popular vote -- declined to stop this egregious violation of reproductive rights from going into effect, millions of people in Texas have effectively lost access to safe abortions.
→ This decision from the Supreme Court not only hurts Texans, it also just signaled to every other state legislature that similar abortion restriction bills could be passed and potentially not overturned by the courts. This is truly a worst-case scenario moment for reproductive rights.
Redistricting:
Texas is the only state in the nation that saw a population shift big enough to gain two additional seats in Congress. AOTL President Kelly Burton said that map drawers couldn’t make both of the new seats Republican strongholds without racially gerrymandering -- but since Texas Republicans are holding the pen to draw these maps and our conservative-stacked SCOTUS could be the final arbiter of racial gerrymandering, we can’t just sit back and hope this process is fair and equitable.
→ Texas is one of the four states -- along with other AOTL target states Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida -- that election experts have identified as a path-to-victory for Republicans and warned that if they further gerrymander congressional maps in these four states, they can secure an undemocratically elected majority in the U.S. House. With states like Texas set to begin redistricting hearings next week, we don’t have much time to stop them.
Elections have consequences -- and map manipulators across the country want to dictate those consequences to protect their own power. The future of everything from voting rights to reproductive health care will be decided by the maps being drawn right now in states like Texas.
Our team will be sending updates in the coming days about the redistricting landscape in Texas and the fight we’re up against.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: Thanks for your support,
Gen Van Cleve
Texas State Director
All On The Line is the grassroots advocacy campaign supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund. Support our work to end gerrymandering.
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