The crisis in Texas

Dear Friend,

On September 1, SB 8 went into effect in Texas. This vicious new law makes abortion funds, providers, and in fact anyone who helps someone seek an abortion after six weeks in the state vulnerable to a civil lawsuit with minimum damages of $10,000. 85% of abortions in Texas happen after six weeks, where people are already forced to endure myriad obstacles, like 24 hour waiting periods and mandatory ultrasounds.

Now, the Supreme Court has refused to block this unprecedented Texas abortion law, making this the first time a state has successfully banned abortion early in pregnancy since Roe v. Wade. Organized anti-abortion forces have made it their intent to render abortion access nearly impossible by incentivizing harassment, surveillance, and financial threat, and the Supreme Court has condoned it.

I’ve seen this before. I know Texans are no strangers to providing care and support for our communities. On August 31, clinics across the state provided compassionate abortion care through literally their last possible minute. Whole Women’s Health completed their last abortion at 11:56pm in Fort Worth, with a waiting room full of patients and loved ones and a parking lot full of anti-abortion protestors shining lights inside, hoping to catch them breaking the law. But right now, Texas abortion clinics are heart-wrenchingly forced to turn away almost all people seeking abortions while fighting to stay open.

This law is also part of an organized effort to shut down abortion funds and practical support organizations, because together we are making abortion increasingly accessible in the face of immense restrictions. As you read this, funds and clinics in Texas and across the network are collaborating, rushing to support callers to rebook appointments and coordinate out-of-state trips with distances up to 20 times longer. Abortion funds have the expertise and connections to assist callers as they navigate barriers that have increased exponentially. Texas funds, and abortion funds all across the network, need your support as they are digging even deeper in a time they are already meeting unprecedented requests.

Make a donation today and show Texans you’re with us. Your gift will be split among ten Texas abortion funds.

It’s breaking my heart to confront the cruelty of this bill. But in the face of despair, there is a wave of solidarity happening — folks donating, educating each other about abortion and clinics and funds, sharing their stories for the first time, and joining the performance art actions that Texas funds and partners are leading all month to say #BansOffOurBodies and #TXDeservesBetter.

In 2019, many of you helped raise over $1 million for Southern abortion funds facing early bans. We can do it again for Texas, where abortion funds are estimating they will need five times the amount of money to support each person seeking an abortion.