*** URGENT *** URGENT *** URGENT ***

Dear team,

Today, we and our partners filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court to block Texas' radical six-week abortion ban (S.B. 8) before the law takes effect on September 1.

If the Supreme Court does not intervene, abortion care after six weeks of pregnancy will come to an abrupt stop across Texas on Wednesday. Approximately 85% to 90% of people who obtain an abortion in Texas are at least six weeks into pregnancy, meaning this law would prohibit nearly all abortions in the state.

Today's filing at the Supreme Court comes after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals paused all proceedings in the district court while also refusing to take any action itself to prevent this unconstitutional ban from taking effect. In this emergency filing, we're asking the Supreme Court to block the law, or alternatively, allow district court proceedings to continue.

If this law is allowed to take effect, patients will have to travel out of state—in the middle of a pandemic—to receive constitutionally guaranteed health care. And many will not have the means to do so.

The law would present an insurmountable barrier for many patients, with a particularly severe impact on the communities that already bear the brunt of Texas’ pre-existing web of medically unnecessary abortion restrictions: people of color, people with low incomes, and young people.

I want to share a few powerful words from Amy Hagstrom Miller, president and CEO of Whole Woman's Health and Whole Woman's Health Alliance, one of the leading plaintiffs in this case:

"Texans, like everyone else in this country, should be able to count on safe abortion care in their own state. No one should be forced to drive hundreds of miles or be made to continue a pregnancy against their will, yet that's what will happen unless the Supreme Court steps in. Whole Woman's Health clinics will provide the full scope of abortion care services up until the minute this law takes effect and we urge the Supreme Court to protect patients' health and allow us to continue providing the essential health care Texans deserve."

You can learn more about the incredible work Whole Woman's Health Alliance is doing to provide abortion care in Texas here.

Together, we will do everything we can to fight this cruel and unconscionable law.

In solidarity,

Nancy Northup
President & CEO