For women living in Texas, access to abortion services is non-existent and for providers, they run the risk of facing felony charges. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas, 35th District) told Cheddar News that he hopes Texas can once again be a springboard for abortion rights.
"There's also real reason for hope here in Texas because abortion rights for the country started in Texas. In fact, an Austinite, Sarah Weddington, when she was in her 20s, sued district attorney Henry Wade and won the case Roe v. Wade here in Texas and bought abortion rights to the whole country," he said.
In the interim, organizations like Planned Parenthood have stepped up to provide women-in-need with support, funding and transportation to out-of-state abortion providers.
Casar also talked to Cheddar News about the state of the economy, and the surge in layoffs across various sectors, in particular. He said the introduction of more unions in order to boost employee protections in the city of Austin is one way to protect Americans in the broader job market.
"The only thing that has been able to balance inequality in this country's history in a really powerful way has been the union movement and its so important whether you're Black, white, or Brown, young or old, the union movement is resurging and that can change our economy for the better regardless of who is in the White House, regardless of who controls Congress," he said.
When it comes to protecting American dollars in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, he said assessing executives' lobbying goals could help avoid future financial collapses.
