At midnight on September 1, 2021, Texas Senate Bill 8, the most extreme abortion ban that we have ever seen, went into effect. As a result, abortion is now nearly inaccessible in Texas. 

We are devastated and enraged by this news, and we are holding the clinicians, advocates, organizers, and patients in Texas close to our hearts. We know that many of the clinic staff and providers in Texas were working right up until the 11:59 pm deadline, ensuring that patients could get abortion care. We’re also sending love to the clinicians, health centers, clinic staff, and abortion funds in states like New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Illinois, and more, who are geared up and ready to offer care to patients traveling from Texas. 

SB 8 bans all abortion when cardiac activity is detectable, or around six weeks gestation, before most people even know that they are pregnant. SB 8 also allows any private citizen to enforce the ban by suing abortion providers and anyone else who helps a person obtain an abortion after six weeks. Anti-abortion extremists who sue can collect up to $10,000 per successful case. This means that anti-abortion extremists are now legally empowered and financially rewarded to bring clinicians, health centers, abortion funds, and anyone else who helps someone access abortion care to court. Essentially, SB 8 guts Roe v. Wade in Texas, making abortion inaccessible to the vast majority of Texans. 

The Reproductive Health Access Project works to ensure that everyone, everywhere can access abortion care in their own communities. Because of SB 8 and other abortion restrictions in Texas, 85-90% of Texans who currently need abortion care will now have to travel hundreds of miles to receive care out of state – if they’re able to do so at all. This law will cause untold harm, especially to communities that already face significant barriers to accessing care, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx people, queer and trans people, folks living in rural areas, and those working to make ends meet. To date, SB 8 is the most appalling and draconian effort by anti-choice extremists to violate the right to bodily autonomy. 

While SB 8 is specific to Texas, we are part of a national movement to ensure reproductive freedom. It is imperative that we mobilize across the country to support the people of Texas. Abortion funds and other grassroots organizations in Texas and elsewhere are working overtime to help Texans navigate a range of financial, legal, and logistical barriers – such as taking time off work to travel, arranging for childcare, finding transportation, and more – so that they can access abortion care. This is the time for all of us to pitch in. 

Here’s how you can help right now:

1. Donate to abortion funds and grassroots organizations helping Texans access abortion care. This link will split your donation between nine funds in Texas.
2. Participate in a #BansOffOurBodies action, virtually or in person. 
3. Urge Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). The WHPA is federal legislation that will protect the right to access abortion care throughout the United States.
4. Read and share this link to learn about how people in Texas can access abortion care.
5. Spread the word to your friends, loved ones, and communities. We are all in this together.