Ruling’s impact on South Texas.
Supporters celebrate but remember women who were denied help
McALLEN — When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down harsh Texas abortion regulations Monday, Kristeena Banda, the manager of the only abortion clinic in the Rio Grande Valley, was overcome with emotion.
Twice, the Whole Woman’s Health clinic she manages in McAllen had been forced to close because of the strict regulations, only to reopen amid an uncertain future.
As she reflected on the tumultuous past several years, Banda said she had cried tears of joy when the decision was announced, yet the celebration was tempered by the memory of the many women the clinic has had to turn away.
“I feel vindicated, but it’s also bittersweet,” Banda said. She recalled having to call patients late one night to inform them the clinic was shutting down and would no longer provide abortions. “It was a really difficult, dark time.”
But on Monday, several dozen supporters of the clinic shouting “yes we can” in Spanish, and tot- ing signs declaring that “abortion is not a dirty word,” gathered to voice their approval of the high court decision. The 5-3 ruling found that Texas abortion regulations requiring doctors to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital and requiring clinics to comply with expensive ambulatory surgical center standards were unnecessary and placed an undue burden on women seeking abortions.
Many abortion clinics have closed since the restrictions were passed in 2013, with many more facing closure had the law been upheld.
The McAllen clinic also shut down operations for several months between 2013 and 2014, but a federal appeals court ruling ultimately exempted the clinic from the strict rules, citing the long distance to San Antonio, more than 200 miles one way, that residents of the Rio Grande Valley would have to travel for an abortion. The ruling also allowed one doctor in McAllen to be exempt from the hospitaladmitting provision.
An abortion clinic in Harlingen, which had been open since Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, closed after new rules requiring hospital admitting privileges went into effect and it was unable to secure them. It is unclear if that clinic will now con-
sider reopening.
Earlier in the day a group of around 20 women at the clinic celebrated the Supreme Court ruling behind closed doors, later taking their joy to the streets while chanting “Abortion yes, abortion no, that’s for me to decide.”
The McAllen clinic has endured amid uncertainty these past few years, even as others around the state were forced to close, said Lucy Felix, a 46-year-old senior organizer for the National Latina Institute in the Valley.
“At last the Supreme Court is on the side of women and human rights,” Felix said. “The McAllen clinic will remain open and that gives women here security over their health, and their right to decide.”
Outside the clinic in downtown McAllen, people embraced and waved signs that proclaimed justice had thwarted a yearslong bid by conservative lawmakers to place limits on abortion, and yet some warned the struggle was surely far from over.
“We’re going to keep fighting this for many more years,” said Sofia Pena, a 27-year-old organizer for the South Texas for Reproductive Justice. “They’re going to keep coming up with new legislation, and there is always the fight for economic justice because even when the clinics are open many people can’t access them because they’re too poor.”
For many women along this stretch of Texas-Mexico border, access to an abortion provider is costprohibitive, causing many to turn to misoprostol, a pill that can easily be purchased at flea markets or pharmacies in Mexico for around $40 for a box of 28.
During the time it was closed, Banda said, the clinic, which kept open a telephone line, was flooded with calls from desperate women. Many said they couldn’t pass immigration checkpoints to reach clinics in San Antonio, others had taken an entire box of misoprostol without effect, Banda said.
“It’s surreal; it was such a long battle,” Banda said. “But I’m sure there will be more to come, Texas doesn’t really know how or when to stop.”