Texas State: Fewer Abortions, More Calls for Help

Texas has had the strictest abortion law in the United States for a month – there are no exceptions for rape. The US Department of Justice is therefore suing the US state. Now there is the first hearing.

Little is going on this morning in the parking lot of the Women’s Health Center in Austin: The large wooden house is hidden behind trees, cameras are recording who is driving into the parking lot. “Private property, stay by appointment only” is written on red and white signs. The Austin Women’s Health Center is one of three facilities in the Texas capital that perform abortions.

Since September 1st, this procedure has only been legal until the sixth week of pregnancy – many women do not even know that they are pregnant at that time. The law is having an effect: As announced by the Whole Woman’s Health clinic, for example, the number of abortions performed has decreased by 90 percent.

Ghazaleh Moayedi is an abortionist based in Dallas. Speaking to a committee at the Justice Department, she said this week: “There are very few abortions in Texas. Only a fraction of the patients get the help they are looking for. The rest are taken care of by organizations that ensure that the women outside Get the surgery you want from Texas. “

Aid organization supports women

For Sarah, on the other hand, the workload has multiplied since September 1st. She doesn’t want to give her last name. Sarah works for Fund Texas Choice. Here women are financially supported who would like to have an abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy – and now have to travel to another state.

Fund Texas Choice provides those affected with money: “A lot of people just can’t afford it – money for a plane ticket, hundreds of dollars for a hotel room. They’re just getting by and are overwhelmed with this sudden overspend,” she says. Before September 1st, Sarah had to process around 40 calls a month, now it is up to 30 a day.

Biggest restriction since the 1970s

The Texas abortion regime is the largest abortion restriction in the United States since it was legalized in the 1970s. For Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life this is a huge success: “We are extremely happy that the law has come into force. Every life saved is a success for us.”

The number of abortions in Texas has been falling for years: the number was 54,000 last year. Women who are now traveling to another state for an abortion will not appear in this statistic. But that doesn’t mean that the number of abortions will decrease. Clinics in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Louisiana are reporting a large influx from the Lone Star State.

No exceptions foreseen

A tragedy for Pojman: “It’s tragic that women take on this when there are so many willing and qualified couples here in Texas who would like to adopt a baby.” For the organization Texas Alliance for Life: A pregnancy should never be terminated, not even if it is the result of rape or incest. Pojman is calm about the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit.

With Susan Hays, the procedure does not cause any excitement either – but unlike Pojman, the lawyer is concerned about the current developments. For many women, a trip to another state for an interruption of pregnancy is impossible, she says: “The worst hits are poor women or those with jobs and children – or women who are abused by their partners so easily gone. “

Roe vs. Wade could be tipped

In 1973, the Supreme Court enshrined women’s right to abortion in the Roe versus Wade ruling. Lawyer Hays does not rule out that this fundamental judgment is overturned. In the fall, the majority Conservative Supreme Court will deal with an abortion law from Mississippi.

If Roe v. Wade actually, it sets off a chain reaction. Then so-called “trigger laws” will automatically come into force in eleven states: Not only in Texas, but also in Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah, for example, abortions will then be completely prohibited.