WASHINGTON D.C., USA - MAY 14: Abortion rights demonstrators gather near the Washington Monument during a nationwide rally in support of abortion rights in Washington, D.C., US, on May 14, 2022. (Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

First, let's dispense with the bullsh*t. Abortion is healthcare; that is not open to debate. Abortion care is part of a spectrum of reproductive healthcare that, like prenatal care, birth care, postpartum care, cancer screenings, fibroid treatments, and endometriosis care, must be available to all our communities with dignity and self-determination. Abortion carries more shame and stigma than the rest of these reproductive health services, but if we're honest, we can acknowledge that there is still plenty of shame and stigma surrounding other reproductive health issues, like periods, miscarriages, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Plus, access to abortion care is a fundamental human right, full stop. No court or politician should dictate who among us can have children, when, how many, or under what circumstances. Forcing a person to remain pregnant and give birth against their will is a gross violation of our human rights and dignity. Everyone has the fundamental human right to decide if they want to become a parent, how, and when they want to build and grow their own families.

No one understands that better than the Poderosas in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, a sprawling region along the Southern border with about a million inhabitants, most of them with close cultural, if not family, ties to Mexico.

Although some folks know the RGV as a conservative, rural stretch of Texas, home to Mexican im/migrants and their descendants, the RGV I saw firsthand this year is a vibrant force of power, a beam of resistance to the state's forced-birth agenda.

That's where the Poderosas come in. Poderosa means "empowered woman" or "powerful one" in Spanish. It's what the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (Latina Institute) activists have gone by for decades. I started out as a Poderosa activist where I live in Florida before I joined the communications staff at the Latina Institute.

The Poderosas organize around reproductive health, rights, and justice issues. They take part in leadership trainings, lobby their elected officials, canvas their neighborhoods - not for a politician, but around questions of reproductive justice - and organize rallies, health fairs, and other local events to benefit their communities.

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Many of them don't have the proper documentation to live and work in this country, but that doesn't stop them from fighting for their communities. For years, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has set up random checkpoints along most major routes in Southern Texas, blocking undocumented people from traveling to the next town, let alone out of the state, to seek care.

This March, I traveled to Brownsville to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Latina Institute Texas's organizing work in the Valley. Their quince also marked six months since the state enacted what was then the most extreme abortion ban in the country. In September 2021, SB 8 went into effect, banning abortion care in Texas after six weeks of pregnancy, or just one missed period, which is before many people even realize they're pregnant.