During the kickoff of Senate-hopeful Colin Allred’s “Women for Allred” coalition at Gilley’s on Saturday, every person who took the stage claimed to share a common enemy: Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.
Flanked by plaintiffs from the Zurawski v. Texas case which was rejected earlier this year, reproductive rights advocate and Dallas-native Kate Cox, white-coated OB-GYNs and several female elected officials, Allred centered his remarks on the women whose stories were shared over the course of the rally: stories of women who fled the state to receive life-saving medical care, women who could not give medical care to their patients because of constrictive abortion laws, women who nearly died while pregnant thanks to legislation applauded by Cruz.
“I had a lot of thoughts that went through my head during both of my pregnancies. Like, what would we name our child? Do I need a bassinet?” said Aly Eber, Allred’s wife, during the congressman’s introductory remarks. “I was never thinking, I really wish a lawyer were here. … And what I certainly was never thinking was, I really wish Ted Cruz were here.”
Cox and Amanda Zurawski were two of the women who spoke about how Texas’ abortion bans, which were implemented two years ago, resulted in their traumatizing birth experiences. Cox was forced to leave the state to terminate her nonviable pregnancy, while an infection caused by delayed treatment permanently damaged Zurawski’s future fertility. Both women brought cases against the state, which jettisoned them into the national dialogue surrounding the post-Roe v. Wade era.
After hearing their stories, Allred told the crowd that the laws that led to their experiences did not represent “his Texas.”
“I am standing in front of you because so many Texans poured themselves into me. Teachers and coaches who went above and beyond when they weren't being paid enough. My local YMCA, where I went so much, they started letting me come for free. I know who we are as Texans,” Allred said. “I know who we are, and these women should not have had this happen to them here in our state.”
Reproductive rights have been at center-stage this election cycle, both on the national and state levels. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to repeal Roe v. Wade, which had made abortion access a constitutional right nationwide, has reproductive rights advocates scrambling to enshrine abortion access in state constitutions, and as many as 14 states could have abortion access-related measures on their November ballots.
In Texas, where strict abortion bans have been codified and officials have declined to clarify the laws despite pleas from plaintiffs and doctors alike, the fight for reproductive rights won’t be voted on through a bill. It will be waged in the Senate race.
“If you do this to Texas women, if you are seniorly responsible in a way that almost no other Texan can claim to be, because you put the judges on the court who took this right away, because you helped elect the legislators who passed these laws at the state level, because you called for these laws to be passed, because you celebrated when they were passed, then you should lose your job,” Allred said. “Ted Cruz is going to lose his job!”
Dallas City Council member Jaynie Schultz was one of several elected officials who joined Allred on stage during his closing remarks. She said she supports Allred both on a personal level, as a woman and on a professional level.
Allred’s support for local control — allowing the city to determine its own destiny — parallels his support for women’s reproductive autonomy, she added.
“Colin Allred is going to support what this city needs in order to strengthen and improve the quality of life for our citizens and all of our residents, not just for the few people that can help him the way Cruz does. Cruz, I don't know what he's done for the city of Dallas,” Shultz told the Observer. “Ted Cruz's party, at the state level, has definitely been at war with the city of Dallas.”
Allred referred to November’s election as the “most important of our lifetime,” and urged the crowd to join campaign efforts like block walking, phone banking and other outreach.
Cox, who is now pregnant and expecting to give birth in January, said anyone "who is pregnant", "loves someone that is pregnant," or "may become pregnant" needs to "vote like their lives depend on it."
“If I had to do it over again I would. I'm sure these women would agree. Because I've heard these stories from so many women. I have hope for my daughter and I have hope that things can be different,” Cox said. “I have seen how sharing our stories empowers other Texans who know it doesn't have to be this way.”
