Dusti Gurule
Latinas have been agents of social and political change for over 100 years — as civil and women’s rights organizers, and candidates for local, state, and federal government. Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed their rise on the political stage and it has inspired hundreds of women across the country to run for office.
With Dr. Caraveo in Congress, we know that she will continue to tackle the issues that directly impact our communities, our well-being, and our future.
Four years ago, I launched COLOR Action Fund, the only Latina-led Reproductive Justice political organization in the state of Colorado, because I too felt inspired by what I was seeing — women that looked like me tossing aside the political rule book that white institutions had forced upon us. COLOR Action Fund was launched to support the almost twenty-five years of advocacy at COLOR (Colorado Organization Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights), and to make a larger impact on the political process while amplifying the voices of Latinos in Colorado and their allies.
At COLOR Action Fund, we sit at the intersection between communities and the institutions that govern them. We play a central role in American Democratic functions: by educating our communities about political processes, policy issues, and their civic duties; and most importantly, by mobilizing one another in local and federal elections.
Earlier this year, we polled over 1,500 Latinos in the largest state report of our community known as the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda. In it, we found the issues you care about and the issues that are going to ensure that our community turns out to vote this election. Four of the five top issues were directly related to jobs, the economy, and inflation. The fifth issue was abortion access. We found that over 61 percent of Latinos, across party lines and religious affiliations, are more likely to elect someone who protects and expands abortion and reproductive healthcare access. That someone is Dr. Yadira Caraveo, candidate for Congressional District 8.
This new district is one of the most highly contested in the country and has the largest percentage of Latinos in the state, at 39 percent. Democratic state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a pediatrician, has focused her career on healthcare policy, voting, and reproductive justice. Latinas such as Rep. Caraveo occupy multiple spaces simultaneously as women, mothers, workers, partners, and most notably, agents of social change. We know that we will be well represented by Rep. Caraveo when she’s elected to Congress.
In 2021, Rep. Caraveo was a prime sponsor of SB21-009, also known as the Reproductive Health Care Program. This historic piece of legislation provides FDA-approved birth control to low-income individuals who would otherwise qualify for Health First Colorado (Medicaid), if not for their immigration status. This program also ensures all Health First Colorado enrollees who want a year’s supply of birth control are able to receive it.
This year, she championed our efforts to pass the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA), which codified abortion access into our state’s constitution. Without her as a Reproductive Justice Champion to push policy that ensures and expands medically necessary care for Latinos, we would not be able to move towards a future where all families have access to the healthcare they deserve.
This November 8th, we have an opportunity to make history together. Over 68 percent of Latino voters in our state said that they will turn out to vote, and we need you more than ever. Latinos are a key voice in the electoral process, the election season, and the well-being of our Democracy. CD8 is poised to become one of the strongest districts in our state. And if Rep. Caraveo could do all that she has already accomplished for us in Colorado, imagine what she could do for us at the federal level.
Nothing about us without us. With Dr. Caraveo in Congress, we know that she will continue to tackle the issues that directly impact our communities, our well-being, and our future. She is the advocate that we have been waiting for, and she needs us this election. Vote this Tuesday, November 8th, and make sure that we continue to support the champions that reflect the future of our communities.
Dusti Gurule is a President and CEO of Colorado Organization Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) Action Fund.
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