We, the undersigned Texas House District 134 voters, ask Planned Parenthood Texas Votes to endorse Ann Johnson to be our next representative in the Texas legislature.

We appreciate the instances when our current representative Sarah Davis has stated her support for reproductive rights, but it’s far from enough. While she alleges that she "keeps bad bills in committee" and has even claimed she has a shot at being Speaker of the House if she wins this election, the only thing Sarah Davis has proven is a long record of voting against crucial progressive causes. It’s 2020, and it’s time for that to change.

Sarah Davis has opposed many causes that Planned Parenthood vocally supports because they affect women’s health, reproductive rights, and our society in general. She not only voted for but sponsored SB 4, the notoriously anti-immigrant "show me your papers" bill. On gun safety, she voted to allow open carry and campus carry and to prevent our communities from requiring background checks at gun shows. She is silent on vote-by-mail as COVID-19 ravages Houston. And she has yet to speak out on the racist murder of our fellow Houstonian George Floyd.

Additionally, as our representative who claims to protect women's health and reproductive rights, she simply failed to vote on the following critical issues—refusing these crystal clear opportunities to vote for bills protecting women’s health and against those that do not:
• Authorizing Medicaid payments for transportation to appointments.
• Establishing additional unnecessary requirements on abortions based on the falsehood of “premature birth.”
• Establishing services to help people with substance use disorders.
• Requiring that family violence convictions be reported to the Department of Public Safety.
• Authorizing the advertisement of "Choose Life” grant funds.

This is a critical year in which progressive voters are poised to take back at least nine seats to flip the Texas State House, which is the only guaranteed way we can stop the relentless attacks on reproductive rights in our state. Our seat in District 134 is one of those nine seats, and we cannot flip the Texas State House without electing a Democrat to represent us.

Our District 134 seat should be filled by a pro-choice Democratic candidate who votes with her stated convictions and who will also represent us on the full spectrum of reproductive justice issues, including sensible gun control, Medicaid expansion, immigration reform, and the environment. This year, that candidate is undoubtedly Ann Johnson, who is a champion for reproductive rights and justice for all.

We understand that Planned Parenthood Texas Votes seeks bipartisanship, but we cannot endorse any Republican who throws us a crumb and pays mere lip service at the expense of so many important issues that affect people’s lives. We are proud supporters of Planned Parenthood—and in 2020 we need Planned Parenthood to endorse a candidate who supports all of us.