San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Paxton stance prompts groups to pause abortion aid
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that protected the constitutional right to abortion, funds across Texas are facing a new legal uncertainty.
In the wake of the ruling, Attorney General Ken Paxton said Texas’ never-repealed pre-Roe v. Wade abortion statutes are still the law, leading some of these abortion groups to pause funding, cutting off support for Texans who can’t afford an abortion or are seeking one in another state.
“Today is a slap in the face to the lawyers, activists, & organizers who fought against this decision. But, WE WON’T STOP. We will continue to fight until everyone is able to have the abortions they want and need — free from barriers, fear, stigma, or interference from others,” reads a Twitter post from Fund Texas Choice, an abortion fund that reported a 600 percent spike last year in calls after Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions in Texas after six weeks, was passed.
Fund Texas Choice, which helps fund travel and lodging for abortion appointments, has closed and is “spending time analyzing the decision to ensure we are doing everything we can to comply with the law,” according to its website.
It isn’t the only prominent organization of its kind that has faced upheaval since the ruling.
Its legal analysis is “still in the early stages,” but the Lilith Fund, the oldest abortion fund in Texas, also has stopped funding.
“We want to protect our abortion fund staff and volunteers to the greatest degree possible from the risk of arrest and involvement with the racist criminal justice system,” the Lilith Fund, whose information hotline is still operating, said in a statement.
La Frontera Fund, perhaps the most prominent abortion fund in the Rio Grande Valley, and the Texas Equal Access Fund are no longer offering financial support as well.
The state’s so-called trigger law, a near-total ban on abortion with few exceptions that will soon go into effect because of the Supreme Court’s decision, also has caused legal confusion.
Dr. Bhavik Kumar , the medical
director for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, said his facility had to turn away people who had abortions scheduled on Friday because of uncertainty around the trigger law, adding that “there’s been nothing more inhumane, cruel and unethical for me as a physician than denying people the health care they seek in their time of need.”
Planned Parenthood facilities across the state have paused abortion services until their lawyers have a chance to thoroughly review the court’s opinion, though they will continue to offer other medical services.
“Shame on this court for their position, shame on every politician who has brought us to this moment, and shame on every
person with power ignoring a multitude of research and data that has told us the harm that will occur when abortion is inaccessible. You have birthed a national tragedy and a global embarrassment,” Kumar said.
Although Texas laws soon will be among the most restrictive in the country, other states such as New York will continue to be a “safe harbor” for those seeking abortions, Gov. Kathy Hochul said. She also said New York is pledging $35 million for reproductive health clinics to help them deal with the expected surge of out-of-state patients.
But with many Texas abortion funds effectively bottlenecked, some Texans will have to dig into their own pockets to get the procedure elsewhere.
Since Senate Bill 8 passed last year, LaKeia Ferreira-Spady, a counselor and health educator at a Texas abortion clinic, has gotten calls from abortion clinics in other states about Texans who spent their last dime on an abortion and now had no money to get home. Situations like those are only going to get worse once the trigger law goes into effect, she said.
“People already had to choose between rent and abortion, and we don’t have the infrastructure to support them as a state, nor is the state particularly interested in supporting them,” she said.
Ferreira-Spady already has seen how abortion restrictions fall heaviest on society’s most vulnerable, namely poor people and people of color, she said.
“Our state does not have the infrastructure to support more people who will need public assistance,” Ferreira-Spady said, pointing out that there were about 4,000 abortions per month in Texas before SB8.
Ferreira-Spady said smaller clinics such as hers may not be able to stay open once they no longer can offer abortions. She encouraged people who might need an abortion in the future to prepare for contingencies now, such as making a collective plan with a group of friends.
“It’s on people and communities to take care of ourselves,” Ferreira-Spady said, “because (the government) is not going to take care of us.
“It’s not over, even though it may feel like it,” she added. “There’s work we can do locally to fix what has been done here.”