'Chaos, Confusion and Crisis': Marking a Full Year of Texas' Six-Week Abortion Ban
FUCK ALL THE DAMNED WOMAN-HATING GESTATIONAL SLAVERS
‘Chaos, Confusion and Crisis’: Marking a Full Year of Texas’ Six-Week Abortion Ban
9/1/2022 by Jessica G.
For one year, countless Texans have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will.
An abortion rights activist holds up signs during a rally on June 25, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (Sergio Flores / Getty Images)
Editor’s note: Medication abortion is legal, safe and available in all 50 states. The organization Plan C has a comprehensive guide to finding abortion pills on their website, which is continually updated and has all the latest information on where to find abortion pills from anywhere in the U.S.
It’s been two months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to an abortion—but we can’t forget that Texans like me have been suffering for much longer. For one year, abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy has been banned in Texas. For one year, people like me have been forced to find the time, money and resources to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles out of state, if they can, to access healthcare. And if they can’t, for one year, countless Texans have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will, with profound medical risks and life-altering consequences.
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I don’t think I would have survived if I was forced to carry that pregnancy to term, but forced pregnancy and forced birth are exactly what hundreds of Texans have been subjected to over the past year—and it’s the fate of millions of people across the country now that 16 states and counting, including Texas and Louisiana, have enacted bans and additional restrictions on abortion since the fall of Roe.
My abortion story isn’t uncommon and neither is yours. No matter your story and no matter your reason, we must boldly speak out and work together to push back against these harmful laws that strip us of our rights, our bodily autonomy, and our dignity. The majority of Americans support access to safe and legal abortion, and we cannot allow out-of-touch politicians and judges to control our personal medical decisions.
It’s been chaos, confusion and crisis in Texas since Sept. 1, 2021, but Texas was always just the beginning. Now that Roe is overturned, let my state’s grim one-year marker be your wake-up call and motivation to get involved wherever you are. Whether it’s volunteering, donating, protesting or voting, we all have a role to play in the fight for reproductive freedom. Our lives, our bodies and our families are at stake, and the stakes could not be higher. I should know.
https://msmagazine.com/2022/09/01/texas-abortion-ban-one-year/