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Just as I was stepping into adulthood and preparing to enter college in June 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade. As a young woman who’s grown up in Texas, I was confronted with the stark reality that the reproductive rights everyone had assumed were “settled” could be stripped away.

I’m now a college sophomore in Houston, two years in a post-Roe world. Since then, 23 states have passed partial or complete abortion bans, with Texas enacting a total abortion ban with limited exceptions. Worse, Texas’ draconian SB 8 allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone who aids someone seeking an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy—before most people know they are pregnant—criminalizing abortion on an unprecedented level.

While it is true that many states have successfully codified abortion rights post-Dobbs, I know that relying only on a state-based strategy in Texas is a long shot. As the Democratic nominee, I need to see Harris facilitate and push for safer, increased reproductive access on the federal level. On the campaign trail, Harris has already shown promise as a candidate who will use more honest rhetoric about abortion that does not preemptively cow to conservatives, like Hillary Clinton’s infamous “safe, legal, and rare.”

Harris has shown she understands that abortion bans uniquely impact people of color, especially Black women. Women of color and low-income women experience significantly higher maternal mortality rates, with Black women facing a maternal mortality rate nearly three times higher than that of white women. We know that the South has a concentrated population of low-income women and women of color who are disproportionately affected by abortion bans and restrictions on interstate travel for reproductive health care. These restrictions further limit access to care, worsening health disparities and leaving the many people of color in the region without safe options for critical reproductive services. As a result, vulnerable communities are forced to navigate an increasingly dangerous landscape for maternal health.

But Harris’ awareness and rhetoric must translate into action and policy.

I am hoping that Harris will adopt more aggressive strategies to protect abortion, along with continued support for existing measures we’ve already seen the executive branch take. For example, using FDA regulations to keep medication abortion legal—overriding possible state bans—and supporting interstate travel to secure reproductive care. Additionally, because abortion is health care, I’m interested in seeing how Harris, who previously proposed the EACH Woman Act during her time as a California senator, will further push for it as president. This act aims to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion services, and would make it easier for low-income people and people of color to access abortion care.

Finally, Harris must push for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor maternal and infant deaths in states, especially in anti-abortion states, to prevent these states from obscuring the effects of their policies. Texas, for example, recently appointed an anti-abortion doctor to its maternal mortality committee and may potentially decline to participate in the federal system that measures maternal deaths. This federal oversight is crucial to ensuring accountability for harmful policies post-Roe.

In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision and the frightening prospect of another Trump presidency, the stakes for reproductive rights have never been higher, especially in states like Texas. We know that despite the bans, abortions have actually increased since Dobbs, and maternal mortality rates are higher in states that ban abortion. As a young woman of color navigating adulthood in this bleak new reality, it’s critical to me that Harris take concrete actions that safeguard abortion access on a federal level.