This two-part inaugural event of the Sissy Farenthold Fund for Peace and Social Justice will bring together elected officials representing Austin and Travis County residents at the city, county, state, and federal levels—along with abortion funders and abortion rights advocates—to share strategies for securing post-Roe reproductive justice in Texas and beyond. Roundtable participants will be in conversation with each other and with Professor Rachel Rebouché, a leading scholar in reproductive health and family law (and Texas native) who has written extensively about the jurisdictional complexities of—and possibilities for—the post-Roe legal and access landscapes.
Part 1: Blue Zones, Red State: Strategies for Ensuring Abortion Access in Texas
12 PM Central on July 11th on Zoom (registration required)
Elected officials will think together across the city, county, state, and federal levels to discuss strategies for supporting abortion access and reproductive justice in Texas post-Roe. Participants will discuss the Austin City Council’s proposed GRACE resolution and the Travis County District Attorney’s pledge not to prosecute providers or people seeking abortion, alongside consideration of what state and federal representatives might do to facilitate greater access or prevent further restrictions. A part of that discussion will include the legal promises and pitfalls surrounding medication abortion, and proposals for federal interventions.
Participants:
Lloyd Doggett, Texas District 35 Representative, U.S. House of Representatives
Vanessa Fuentes, District 2 Council Member, Austin City Council
Donna Howard, Texas District 38 Representative, Texas House of Representatives
Rachel Rebouché, Interim Dean and James E. Beasley Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law
Moderator: Karen Engle, Minerva House Drysdale Regents Chair in Law, Co-director, Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, The University of Texas at Austin
