In the two years since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 8 banning abortion across the state after about six weeks, vulnerable pregnant people have struggled to access reproductive healthcare even in dire situations.
Five women sued the state after being refused abortions even when, in some cases, their lives were in danger. Under the law, an abortion may be performed to save the life of a pregnant person. Others have told stories of being denied care after miscarrying.
In at least one instance, a woman had to carry a pregnancy to term despite a fatal anomaly.
Signed in 2021, S.B. 8 became the benchmark for the anti-abortion movement across the country. Governors in other states passed restrictions modeled after it. The law prohibits physicians from performing the procedure if a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks.
It does not allow an abortion to be performed in cases of rape or incest.
If violated, providers and those who assist pregnant people in obtaining an abortion can be sued for at least $10,000.
In June, Abbott quietly signed another law allowing for more exceptions if the pregnant person is experiencing an ectopic pregnancy or when water breaks too early for the fetus to survive. The move was widely criticized by advocates.
Regardless of the limited exceptions now in effect, the end result has been pregnant people traveling across state lines or relying on abortion pills obtained through telehealth medicine to terminate a pregnancy.
The costs to travel can be overwhelming. There are expenses relating to transportation, accommodation and childcare, among others. For people who cannot afford to miss work, the financial toll can be excruciating.
Undocumented immigrant women, of which there are about 800,000 in Texas, have been disproportionately harmed by the ban, explained Lupe M. Rodríguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
“If you don’t have documentation, you can’t very…
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