Allred Places Blame on Cruz for Stripping Away Women’s Reproductive Freedoms on Dobbs Anniversary

DALLAS –  On Monday, June 24, two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Congressman Colin Allred highlighted the harrowing reality women in Texas are facing due to Texas’ abortion ban.

Speaking from the Austin Women’s Health Center, Allred was joined by his wife Alexandra Eber, former state senator Wendy Davis, Texas State House candidate Kristian Carranza and Taylor Edwards, a plaintiff in the Zurawski v. Texas case before the Texas Supreme Court. 

Watch the full press conference here.

Key Highlights From The Event: 

• The Dallas Morning News highlighted Taylor Edwards’ comments:
  • “We have been criminalized by extreme politicians like Ted Cruz,” Edwards told reporters, adding “she was terrified” of being prosecuted when she returned to Texas after getting an abortion. “I am not a criminal. I am a mother who made the best decision she could out of love for her baby, who was terminally ill.”

• Houston Chronicle’s The Texas Take Newsletter wrote on Allred’s comments calling out Cruz:
  • “In many ways, he was the architect of the situation we are in right now,” Allred said. He explained that Cruz helped elect the anti-abortion legislators and advocated for judges who would end abortion in America.Texas Take also highlighted Alexandra Eber’s remarks: Eber, an attorney and mother of two, talked about the anxiety women already feel when they get an ultrasound, praying for good news… “Politicians in Texas, like Ted Cruz, have done the unthinkable, which is to make it ever harder for women in those unthinkable moments,” she said.

• KVUE Austin talked to Dr. Kim Vernon (OBGYN) and Taylor Edwards: 
  • Texas saw a 22.9% increase in the number of infant deaths tied to pre-term birth defects, whereas the rest of the U.S. saw a 3% increase. “That is expected, unfortunately,” Dallas OBGYN Kim Vernon said. Vernon said in most of those cases, the pregnancies would have been allowed to be terminated before the Texas ban.
  • Taylor Edwards also told KVUE: “I wanted this baby so desperately.” She was able to conceive and give birth to a baby boy just last month but even now, she chooses to re-live her pain. She says she’ll stand with lawmakers like Congressman Colin Allred to make sure every woman has a choice about their own body.
  • KVUE went on to say, “when Roe vs. Wade was overturned in 2022, Senator Cruz called the decision a massive victory...”  

• Spectrum News Austin reported, “Cruz is a vocal supporter of the Texas abortion law, Allred wants to reverse it.” 

• The Austin American Statesman published photos from the event.