Yes, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, an estimated 26,000 women in Texas became pregnant after rape since the state implemented a total abortion ban. This is about 40% of the total number of rape-related pregnancies in the 14 states that have implemented total abortion bans since the 2022 Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Dr. Samuel Dickman, a co-author of the study and abortion provider, was shocked by the numbers. He said, "It's hard to comprehend" to be confronted with these estimates in states where there's no meaningful abortion access.
Dr. Rachel Perry, an OB-GYN professor at the University of California, Irvine, said that while not all people who become pregnant due to rape want an abortion, those who do are more likely to choose abortion than to continue their pregnancies.
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US Representatives Greg Casar, Lloyd Doggett, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were joined by Texas gubernatorial candidate, Beto O'Rourke, who only lost narrowly lost to Ted Cruz by approximately 2.6% , and Senator Bernie Sanders all joined together on behalf of winning seats up and down the ballot for offices in Texas and for seats in Congress including helping Collins Allred defeat Ted Cruz and to help Vice President Kamala Harris defeat Donald Trump in Texas. Beto O'Rourke and his organization have been working hard to register voters.
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The biggest registration gains have been in the Democratic stronghold of Harris County and along the I-35 corridor, which now leans blue. Jillson says the reason the Republicans keep winning is they dominate in the external suburbs and rural areas.
He believes former president Donald Trump will win Texas and Senator Ted Cruz will win re-election, although that could be very close.
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Texas isn't a really red state. Texas is a voter suppression state, a state with a huge number of people who don't vote, likely because Texas Republicans are deliberately making it more difficult to vote . Governor Gregg Abbott signed Texas Senate Bill 1 which took 1 million people off the list of registered voters . The trend line, nevertheless, is clear. In 2012, Mitt Romney defeated President Obama in Texas by 16% , in 2016 Donald Trump defeated Secretary Hillary Clinton by 9%, and in 2020 Donald Trump defeated President Biden by 5% in Texas. As they said, that's a trend!
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Since the election between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke was so close, Beto founded Powered by People and he and other Democrats realized that if they could register more votes, the state could be won in future elections in the near future. They know that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins Texas, this ends Donald Trump's Republican Party as a national party because Texas has 40 electoral college votes and they cannot make up those votes. This atrocity of forcing 26,000 women who have been raped to give birth is unconscionable. Even if Vice President Kamala Harris doesn't win Texas, the investment and effort will pay off for seats and measures up and down the ballot and it could make a difference for Texas women if we can get Roe codified by the next Congress.
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If Senator Jon Tester doesn't win re-election, then we need to defeat an incumbent Senate Republican and this election against Ted Cruz is our best opportunity. In order to pass legislation that codifies Roe, we must retain control of the US Senate and win back control of the US House of Representatives. We have 51 senators who voted for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. We will lose one because Joe Manchin is retiring and an incumbent Senate Democrat, Senator Jon Tester is facing an uphill challenge. Donald Trump is winning Montana, the state Senator Jon Tester represents, by 18%. So, we likely have to make up that seat and Collins Allred is, essentially, the perfect candidate to defeat Ted Cruz and make up that seat and get us to 50 seats in the Senate.