NAACP calls on athletes not to sign with Texas teams over voting, abortion laws

Teams from the NBA, NHL, NFL, WNBA and MLB were sent the letter.

The NAACP on Thursday called on members of the NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL and MLB to consider not signing with teams in Texas as a protest against several controversial laws passed recently in the state.

In the two-page letter given first to ABC News, the NAACP took jabs at state lawmakers, calling the state "a blueprint by legislators to violate constitutional rights for all, especially for women, children and marginalized communities." The NAACP noted the state's controversial laws on abortion, voting rights and coronavirus mask mandates as reasons for free agents not to sign with Texas teams.

"As we watch an incomprehensible assault on basic human rights unfold in Texas, we are simultaneously witnessing a threat to constitutional guarantees for women, children and marginalized communities," NAACP National President Derrick Johnson and NAACP Texas State Conference President Gary Bledsoe wrote in the letter. "Over the past few months, legislators in Texas have passed archaic policies, disguised as laws, that directly violate privacy rights and a woman's freedom to choose, restrict access to free and fair elections for Black and Brown voters, and increase the risk of contracting coronavirus."

"If you are a woman, avoid Texas. If you are Black, avoid Texas," the letter continued. "If you want to lower your chances of dying from coronavirus, avoid Texas."