On September 1st, the final restriction of HB2 will go into effect in Texas. HB2 was voted into law in the summer of 2013. Throughout the year, we have moved from over 40 clinics, down to just over 20. On September 1st, Texas will be left with between 6 and 8 abortion clinics, for over 6 million women* of childbearing age.
That’s one in a million.
The restrictions claim to make abortion “safer.” Safer than what? Abortion is an extremely safe outpatient procedure, many times safer than childbirth, and with similar possible complications. HB2 forces doctors to use out of date protocols for medical abortions, requires “hospital admitting privileges” within 30 miles for doctors (unnecessary since in the extremely rare instance of complications, ER doctors usually do the admitting), and now requires extremely expensive retrofitting (or rebuilding) to have all clinics reclassified as “Ambulatory Surgical Centers.” Most abortions don’t even require an incision. They can be done safely in most doctors’ offices.
Even before this final part of the law takes effect in September, hundreds of thousands of Texans now live over 200 miles away from their nearest clinic. Waiting times have shot up at clinics, and with that wait comes an increase in cost. All of this conspires to force more people to carry pregnancies to term that they don’t want, and cannot afford. All of this endangers the health of Texans.
We don’t know what will happen about September 1st. The only sure thing is that it will be even more difficult for Texans to access the abortions they are legally entitled to, that they truly need. Join us as a sustaining donor. Even a small monthly donation allows us to focus on supporting Texans. We’re fighting harder than ever for our clients, and we need your help. Click here to join us!
*We’re using the word women because that is the public statistic available to us, but we know that people who don’t identify as women also need access to abortions. We support, and will fund, their right to abortion access.