Women & Survivors’ Rights

Mihaela is the only pro-choice state official in Collin County. Mihaela is proud to have been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and maintain a 100% pro-choice voting record in the Texas House. She introduced two bills to roll back Texas’s draconian abortion laws and will keep fighting to ensure women have full autonomy over their personal medical decisions.

Women’s Health

Texas leads the nation in maternal mortality, uninsured women, and is ranked last in access to women’s healthcare. In the Texas House, Mihaela proudly fight for increased funding for women’s health programs, increasing insurance coverage for reproductive care and family planning including IVF, and access to preventative healthcare for early detection of conditions such as breast and ovarian cancers. Mihaela has always stood strong on her belief that healthcare is a human right and that women also deserve access to the full spectrum of health care including reproductive care and access to abortion. Mihaela has firmly opposed every attack on women’s rights and healthcare her entire time in the House. Mihaela has advocated for policies creating exceptions to the Texas Abortion Ban in cases of rape, incest, when the pregnancy is being carried by a minor, for complications arising from IVF, and for high-risk and geriatric pregnancies. Though the fight continues to restore abortion rights in Texas, Mihaela is geared up to fight for the long haul while achieving progress where we can.

During the 88th Legislative Session, Mihaela was proud to work with her pro-choice colleagues to co-author the following women’s health bills, 3* of which have been signed into law:

HB 12*: Increasing Medicaid coverage for new moms to one year postpartum.
HB 916*: Requiring insurance companies to cover a 12-month supply of birth control.
HB 1490: Requiring doctors to prioritize the life of the mother.
HB 1649*: Requiring health insurance to cover fertility preservation treatments and services.
HB 1953: Restoring a woman’s right to an abortion for a high risk pregnancy or if the pregnancy resulted from in vitro fertilization.
HB 2853: to expand access to emergency contraception.
HB 3588: permitting an unemancipated minor to obtain an abortion.

Standing Up for Survivors of Sexual Assault, Domestic Abuse, And Human Trafficking

One in five women and one in twenty men in Texas will experience sexual assault at some point in their life. It is our responsibility to crack down on sexual assault and domestic violence, teach our kids about consent, and stand up for the victims of these heinous crimes so that they can become survivors. Sexual assault, abuse, and harassment have no place in Texas. Mihaela has proudly authored and supported legislation to protect survivors, offer more resources and support so they can leave their abuser, and hold those bad actors accountable to the strictest letter of the law. During Mihaela’s first session, she raised awareness around lesser-known types of sexual assault, such as stealthing, and offered prosecutors and survivors more legal remedies for justice. Mihaela is proud to stand with survivors and dedicated to being a legislator they can count on.

During the 88th Legislative Session, Mihaela was proud to joint-author, co-author, sponsor, or co-sponsor the following bills to support survivors and crack down on human trafficking that have been signed into law:

HB 1432: Streamlines the process of getting a protective order for survivors of domestic abuse, family violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.
HB 2313: Requires Uber, Lyft, and taxi drivers to be trained to identify and report human trafficking.
HB 2700: Cracks down on explicit materials, deep fakes, and cyber exploitation.
HB 3554: Increases the penalty for human traffickers who are predatory and target vulnerable persons.
HB 5179: Brings awareness to the offense of “stealthing,” and provide survivors a legal avenue to sue the perpetrator for damages and relief.
SB 1325: Requiring victims of family violence be notified of their rights along with resources and services available to them.
SB 1402: Continuing funding and operations of the Texas Sexual Assault Survivors Task Force.

Because of my efforts I am proud that Annie’s List named me a Legislative Champion.