‘We are forcing women to stay inside’: Reproductive rights advocates react to Texas abortion law

Women’s rights advocates vow to fight on in spite of the ‘bounty hunter’ law in place

People gather for a reproductive rights rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall on 1 September 2021 in Downtown Brooklyn in New York City (Getty Images)

Reproductive rights advocates have vowed to keep the fight going for women who will be “forced into generational poverty” after Texas passed an extreme abortion law.

Under the law, residents of the state can sue for at least $10,000 clinics, doctors, nurses and even people who drive a woman to get the procedure six weeks after a pregnancy.

“We’re talking about young women who live in some of the most dire communities,” Marsha Jones, a Texas native and CEO of the Afiya Center in Dallas that advocates for Black women and girls, was quoted by the ABC as saying.

As per the law, people like Ms Jones can themselves become the target. She said: “It’s almost like they have put a bounty on those of us — people like us — and others, and even our donors, who want to make sure that people have access to reproductive health care and [that] includes abortion.”

Ms Jones added: “So now you have just people on the street, who can now sue us, attack us in all these kinds of ways, and with that, it almost ties our hands, because how much can we do if we are being sued every day?”

She, however, maintained that “we are going to continue working at the Afiya Centre.”

Marcela Howell, who leads a coalition of eight organisations represented by Black women that advocate for reproductive justice, told ABC News: “Roe v. Wade promised the right to abortion, but for Black women who have to rely on Medicaid or who don’t have insurance coverage at all, and have to find money to get abortion services, that right has never been exercised, it’s always had barriers to it.”

Ms Jones added: “We are forcing people into generational poverty, we are forcing women to stay inside of homes, houses, spaces where their lives are on the line.”

Women from Texas are now looking for options outside the state. The Independent reported that even before the law was passed this week, clinics in neighbouring states were fielding growing numbers of calls from women desperate for options.

Meanwhile, campaigners have also warned that women’s health is being placed at risk around the world due to Google’s algorithm that they claim is blocking critical online information about abortions.

In 2020, about 54,000 abortions were performed in Texas abortion facilities and more than 45,000 of those were performed at eight weeks of pregnancy or less.

Adriana Piñon, the senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Texas, said on Thursday that “the serious threat of harassing vigilante lawsuits against abortion providers has stopped nearly all abortion in the state”.

A whistleblower site was already set up by an anti-abortion group to encourage people to report violators of the law. However, Tiktokers and Reddit users flooded the website with false information, Shrek memes, and porn, in an attempt to thwart the law.

Ms Piñon continued: “As a woman who was born and raised in Texas, I am not only saddened, I am outraged. We deserve the right to make decisions about our lives, our families, and our futures. Our fight will not end today. We’ll keep doing everything in our power to stop this law and protect Texans’ fundamental rights.”

Vanessa Rodriguez, the call centre manager of Planned Parenthood’s Greater Texas branch said at a virtual press conference: “It is important to point out that Texas already faced some of the most challenging barriers to abortion in the country. It’s often my team who has to explain to people what hoops they have to jump through, no matter how desperate or afraid they might be. And this is all prior to Senate Bill 8 going into effect.”

According to the New York Times, approximately 70 per cent of abortions in Texas in 2019 were provided to women of colour.

Ms Rodriguez said: “We will continue to support and educate our communities and each other along the way.”